PH09 Plant Ecotoxicology
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Thursday
(PH121) Terrestrial Phytotoxicity Tests: Combining Multiple Endpoints and Interpreting Results.
Kapustka, L1, 1 ecological planning and toxicology, inc., Corvallis, OR, USA
ABSTRACT- My laboratory has conducted phytotoxicity studies of environmental and spiked soil samples using a number of standard and non-standard test species. Test substances have included anionic and cationic metals under different pH and Organic Carbon levels as well as various organic constituents. From a physiological perspective, one can expect different responses in different parts of plants exposed to the range of conditions typically found in environmental samples (i.e., on occasion leaves or stems may be impacted, but in other cases roots are most responsive). By transforming measurement endpoint values into response quartiles (relative to reference treatments), the data may be combined to yield a Phytotoxicity Score. Phytotoxicity scores can be examined to reveal the relative sensitivity of measurement endpoints as well as be used to rank the relative phytotoxicity of environmental samples. Non-linear regression plots are typically required to describe the concentration response surface for most endpoints. Illustrative data from a diverse collection of studies will be presented.
Key words: multiple-endpoints, phytoxicity, non-linear responses