|
(M/MF201) EAT 3: ECETOC compilation of a high quality aquatic ecotoxicity database . Lemaire, Philippe1, Eadsforth, Charles2, Friederich, Urs3, Frost, Tone4, Holt, Martin5, Roman, Giles6, Tencalla, Francesca7, Weirich, Peter8, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ABSTRACT- The ECETOC Aquatic Toxicity (EAT) database has been updated to include information on the toxicity of substances to aquatic species in fresh and saline waters mainly from data published between 1992-1999. The principal quality criteria for acceptance of data were that test methods should be well described and the toxicant concentrations must be measured. On this basis 178 of the 537 papers examined were found to be suitable for inclusion in the new database and 359 publications were rejected. The new database (EAT 3) contains over 5460 entries on almost 600 substances providing the most comprehensive compilation of quality ecotoxicity data published in the scientific press between 1970 - 1999. Particular emphasis was placed on searching for marine data with the result that almost 24% of the data relate to marine organisms. Of the 594 different substances for which data were found, the majority of them (228 and 181) had single or less than 5 entries respectively. Over 100 substances have 10 data or more but only 22 substances have more than 50 data. The three most represented categories are halogenated compounds, heavy metals and nitrogen compounds. Acute data account for 68% of the total data of which almost 50% are for freshwater fish, and 25% are for freshwater invertebrates. The remainder of the acute data are equally split between saltwater fish and invertebrates. One of the main aims of the work was investigate the relationships between results obtained from different species, periods of exposure, test end-points and chemical types. Papers addressing a sensitivity comparison between freshwater and seawater acute to chronic ratios for chemicals will also be presented . Key words: database, aquatic, ecotoxicity |
