Comparison of species sensitivity of Daphnia and fish in acute and chronic testing

Abstract

Based on the animal welfare concept (Art. 13, Art. 25), the REACh Regulation (EC 1907/2006) provides several options to avoid the long term fish toxicity test. About 240 substances from the ECHA and ICS database including 73 pesticides are analysed for species sensitivity differences and acute to chronic ratios to evaluate whether and when chronic fish toxicity tests can be avoided without underestimating environmental risk. Only studies that have been conducted in line with guidelines recommended in the EU guidance documents are used for this study. Sensitivity comparison of fish and Daphnia toxicity indicates that none of both trophic levels is generally more sensitive in acute or long term testing. Based on the finding that the sensitivity in chronic testing is associated with sensitivity in acute testing a classification scheme for acute sensitivity comparison was proposed to contribute the integrated testing strategy.