Combination effect of light and toxicity in algal tests

The sensitivity of Scenedesmus subspicatus against potassium dichromate is positively correlated to the photon flux density during the algal growth inhibition test. Low photon flux densities led to significantly reduced maximum effects and higher EC50 levels. To improve the testing of colored substances, we distinguished between the toxic effect (chemical part, represented by potassium dichromate) and the shading effect (physical part, simulated by reduced light intensities during the test) of a hypothetical light absorbing substance. The contribution of these single effects to the total inhibition varied greatly. At high concentrations of potassium dichromate (1.6 and 3.2 mg L(-1)) the physical part never exceeded 25% of the total inhibition, not even at strongest light reduction, while at low concentrations (0.2 and 0.4 mg L(-1)) the physical effect became more prominent when halving the amount of available light. Further, the combination effect of the chemical and the physical effect could be calculated well only by using the concept of independent action. Thus, if chemical and physical effects are measured in combination, as is the case in tests with dye-stuffs, the current test protocol for the algal growth inhibition test may lead to incorrect estimations of the toxic potential.     

Mathematische Modelle zur Effektabschätzung

The extrapolation from single-species toxicity data to ecosystem thresholds is one of the principal problems in ecological risk assessment. The common statistical methods are briefly presented prior to a brief trial application of simulation models. A method for calculating ecosystem thresholds for different end points using Monte-Carlo simulations is applied to a data set of eight substances and subsequently compared with statistical approaches. Finally, a comparison of the pros and cons of such simulation models for extrapolation is presented.     

Adaptation to environmental stress in Daphnia magna simultaneously exposed to a xenobiotic

In standardized ecotoxicological testing chemicals are investigated under optimal conditions for the test organisms despite the fact that environmental factors such as predation pressure and food availability are important parameters regulating natural populations. Food limitation and predator presence can induce shifts in life-history traits in various Daphnia species, especially trade-offs in reproductive biomass allocation. These adaptive responses are thought to ensure survival of the population in a highly variable environment. A xenobiotic dispersant (used in textile dyeing processes) also shifted the biomass allocation of Daphnia magna. To assess whether the dispersant could hinder D. magna adaptation to varying environmental conditions, we conducted experiments with food level and presence of Chaoborus larvae as environmental factors and simultaneous exposure to the dispersant. At low food level and in presence of the predator, D. magna produced fewer but larger sized neonates, regardless of dispersant exposure. The dispersant shifted biomass allocation towards more but smaller sized offspring in all experiments. However, the adaptive response to the environmental factors and the dispersant effect cancelled each other out in that they induced independently from each other opposite shifts in biomass allocation. In summary, the dispersant exposure resulted not in an inhibition of the adaptive response but in a reduction of the value of the response. Our study with this model substance demonstrates that xenobiotics can affect the adaptation of organisms to environmental stress which can result in effects likely to be overlooked in standardized testing.     

Ökotoxikologische Charakterisierung von Nonylphenol Isomeren

Background, Aim and Scope

Acute toxicity and estrogenic potency of six nonylphenol isomers, with nearly the same chemical structure and the same physico-chemical properties, were investigated in this study. Thes datasets give some insight into how far structure activity relationships can be used for these modes of action.

Methods

The toxicity of the isomers was investigated by the daphnia immobilisation test as well as the duckweed growth inhibition test. The estrogenic potency of the p-NP isomers was analyzed by MVLN-Reportergen-Assay.

Results

No differences between the isomers were found for baseline toxicity, neither in the daphnia immobilisation test nor in the duckweed growth inhibition test. Estrogenic potency of the isomers in the MVLN reportergen assay was markedly different for the tested isomers. The highest estrogenic potency was found for p353-NP, whereas p262-NP and p22-NP exhibited no estrogenic, but partial antagonistic potency in this assay.

Discussion

The results from this study clearly indicate how far simplification and structure activity relationships can be used in risk analysis. For bioconcentration and baseline toxicity structure activity relationships are possible and will allow simplification of the risk analysis. For special modes of action simple structure activity relationships are per se impossible. This was shown especially for the estrogen receptor interactions, where only small structural differences can lead to different modes of action.

Conclusions

It seems possible to reduce the effort for risk analysis, using combinations of measured data and predictive models. At the moment it seems unlikely that predictive models alone will and can be used for risk analysis.     

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Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Versuch einer politischen und wissenschaftlichen Standortbestimmung

The paper presents a critical survey as to which extent various concept formations and applications from the ecotoxicological area deserve the attribute ‘scientific’. Among these are down-played names for biotests and often nearly constrainedly applied slogans like ‘from molecule to ecosystem’. These kind of phrases are called ‘ecospeak’. The author discusses as to how, e.g., the aforementioned slogan can give rise to scientific illfounded suggestions that molecular mechanisms can directly be extrapolated to the level of individuals and populations. He scrutinizes the belief in the ability to predict the behavior of communities and the biodiversity of habitats in the open landscape by using mechanistic concepts and models. The non-critical use of species-sensitivity distributions and the NOEC-determination using results from mesocosm experiments are also seen as a problem. The author criticizes the lack of environmental standards for the open landscape and advocates for a strong enhancement of research policy and funding. The deliberately subjective perceptions intend to initiate a discussion, as broad as possible, on the status quo in Ecotoxicology.     

Darstellung maskierter Nutzungseffekte auf naturraumspezifische Artengemeinschaften grasiger Feldraine mithilfe von Restvarianzmustern

Background and aim Grassy field margins have a high relevance in agricultural landscapes regarding the preservation of typical arthropod communities, their biodiversity and the ecological system functions linked with it. The structure of terrestrial communities is affected by anthropogenic impairment, which can lead to the replacement of sensitive by more tolerant species. The negative influence of pesticides on fauna and flora as well as the associated functional aspects (ecological system functions) and the reduction of biodiversity are undisputed since longer for agrarian systems and can also be assumed for grassy field margins due to spray-drift. The case study presented here examined the effect of influences related to utilization on the plant and arthropod communities of grassy field margins. Reference sites, on which due to missing farming in the direct surrounding countryside no utilization influences on the communities were present, were compared to non-target sites, on which these influences could not be excluded. Sites in three German macrochores were examined: in the Jülicher Börde, at the northeastern edge of the Leipziger low lands and in the area Mainfranken near Würzburg, all of them intensely used agricultural landscapes. Beside the vegetation, the epigeic arthropod communities of carabid beetles, spiders, springtails, hymenopterans, hover flies and ladybirds as well as abiotic parameters were included in the analysis. The aim of the study was the development of a statistical exclusion procedure which is capable to quantify the amount of variation in field community data which can be attributed to isolated factors. Special attention was paid to non-observable utilization impacts like undocumented pesticide application. The extraction of patterns of residual variance allowed for the uncovering of masked effects on a scale below the obvious abundance pattern. Materials and methods The variability in the species composition was visualized with the help of non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS). Indicator species analysis revealed those species which could be recognized as statistically significant indicators for local conditions. The relationship between the species composition and the environmental factors was statistically modeled by canonical correspondence analysis. By variance partitioning it was possible to extract the variance portion which could be bound to a set of covariables. For the remaining residual variance it could not be excluded that this resulted from a pesticide influence. Results The analyses based on the ecological distance (Bray-Curtis) showed that the communities in references sites and non-target sites could be clearly distinguished in all three landscapes. Based on the portions of variance which could be explained statistically by a utilization related influence, two different directions of reaction to the utilization related variables could be stated. On the one hand there were sensitive species, showing reduced abundances in the non-target sites, on the other hand there were species increasing in abundance in the non-target sites, recruiting from the group of strong competitors. Discussion By the use of residual variances a clear influence of utilization related parameters on the community of soil arthropods and vegetation could be shown. The observed abundances shifts between reference sites and non-target sites in the raw data were attributed to a multi-dimensional factor complex which could be split up by the use of partial ordination methods, quantifying the relationships to the utilization related parameters. It was demonstrated that special utilization correlated patterns could be found in the raw data after eliminating the influence of the covariables. Conclusions Utilization related influences in the non-target sites evened out the characteristic communities for the three landscapes towards a comprehensive, ubiquitous species composition. The hypothesis of decreasing abundance of sensitive species and the augmentation of tolerant species due to a potential pesticide influence could be underpinned and quantified. Sensitive species which showed a significant reduction in abundance between reference and non-target sites showed a much higher sensitivity to the influences and thus were assigned a higher indicator potential than tolerant species. From the group of the sensitive species Pardosa palustris and Poecilus cupreus could be isolated as two promising macrochore-specific indicator species for the masked effects. Recommendations and perspectives A macrochore-specific assessment of utilization effects was requested for future studies due to the different sensitivities of the species in the three landscapes. The elaboration and specifying of reference conditions for terrestrial agrarian systems is an important task for the future. The presented approach deduces a macrochore-specific, complex effect pattern of anthropogenic impairment on terrestrial species communities. It can be used to extract masked effects and by this facilitates a more sustainable use of e.g. plant protection products. Furthermore it provides an opportunity to validate evaluation systems for the effects of utilization impacts on terrestrial vegetation and arthropods. Additionally the species sensitivities with respect to the macrochores allow a regionalized assessment of ecotoxicological effects and the integration into spatially explicit effect assessment models.     

Life stage- dependent bioconcentration of a nonylphenol isomer in Daphnia magna

Bioaccumulation is an important aspect for the fate and effects of xenobiotics in the environment. In this study we used a radiolabeled nonylphenol isomer to investigate the bioconcentration in Daphnia magna at different ages. Apart from the total radioactivity we measured the metabolism of p353-NP in D. magna, to calculate the amount of p353-NP compared to total radioactivity found within the daphnids. Bioconcentration factors, based on wet weight, calculated from the rate constants for total radioactivity in neonates and adults were 4271 kg/l and 760 kg/l respectively, leading to a 5.6 deviance in bioconcentration. This deviance was even more pronounced, nearly one order of magnitude, for the p353-NP concentration with bioconcentration factors of 302 kg/l for neonates and 31 kg/l for adults. We were able to describe the bioconcentration for all daphnids by a weight-dependent one- compartment model. These results pointed out that it is not possible to compare bioconcentration experiments conducted with different substances and different sized daphnids. Additionally it was shown that it is not possible to describe the bioconcentration by measuring the total radioactivity. Metabolism of nonylphenol occurs at a very fast rate and bioconcentration is not triggered by the partition between two phases, but by metabolism. Discrimination between the two mechanisms was achieved using radiolabeled substances and a pseudo two-compartment model to describe metabolism and elimination by two rate constants which afterwards can be compared between different substances.