Mind the gap: Concerns using endpoints from endocrine screening assays in risk assessment

Wheeler, James R.; Weltje, Lennart; Green, Richard M.

doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2014.05.021

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Assessment endpoints are specific to the issues in hand, measurable or can be modeled, and might be tested with risk hypotheses. In ecotoxicology, assessment endpoints are generally aimed at apical endpoints related to sustainability of populations: survival, growth, development, and reproduction (Wheeler, Weltje, and Green 2014). This recognizes that there is resiliency in populations of organisms in the environment and that some effects at the individual level might be tolerated.…”

Section: Problem Formulation and Hypothesis Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative weight-of-evidence analysis of the persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and potential for long-range transport of the cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes

Bridges

Solomon

2016

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B

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Cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMSs) are highly volatile and have an unusual combination of physicochemical properties, which are unlike those of halocarbon-based chemicals used to establish criteria for identification of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that undergo long-range transport (LRT). A transparent quantitative weight of evidence (QWoE) evaluation was conducted to characterize their properties. Measurements of concentrations of cVMSs in the environment are challenging, but currently, concentrations measured in robust studies are all less than thresholds of toxicity. The cVMSs are moderately persistent in air with half-lives ≤11 d (greater than the criterion of 2 d) but these compounds partition into the atmosphere, the final sink. The cVMSs are rapidly degraded in dry soils, partition from wet soils into the atmosphere, and are not classifiable as persistent in soils. Persistence in water and sediment is variable, but the greatest concentrations in the environment are observed in sediments. Based upon the measurements that have been made in the environment, cVMSs should not be classified as persistent. Studies in food webs support a conclusion that the cVMSs do not biomagnify, a conclusion that is consistent with results of toxicokinetic studies. Concentrations in air in remote locations are small and deposition has not been detected. Taken together, evidence indicates that traditional measures of persistence and biomagnification used for legacy POP are not suitable for cVMS. Refined approaches used here suggest that cVMSs are not classifiable as persistent, bioaccumulative, or toxic. Further, these chemicals do not undergo LRT in the sense of legacy POPs.

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Section: Problem Formulation and Hypothesis Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative weight-of-evidence analysis of the persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and potential for long-range transport of the cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes

Bridges

Solomon

2016

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B

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“…This is best demonstrated by the fact that many endpoints were unbounded, especially for survival (Supplementary Table 1). Thus, the use of screening assays for basing ecological risk assessment conclusions should always be used with some caution (Wheeler et al ., 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Role of Fish as Surrogates for Amphibians in Pesticide Ecological Risk Assessment

Glaberman

Kiwiet

Aubee

2019

Preprint

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1 0 1 1 1 2 2 ABSTRACT 1 3 Ecological risk of chemicals to aquatic-phase amphibians has historically been evaluated 1 4 by comparing estimated environmental concentrations in surface water to surrogate 1 5 toxicity data from standard fish species. Despite their obvious similarities, there are 1 6biological disparities among fish and amphibians that could affect their exposure and 1 7 response to chemicals. Given the alarming decline in amphibians in which anthropogenic 1 8 pollutants play at least some role, evaluating the potential risk of chemicals to amphibians 1 9 is becoming increasingly important. Here, we evaluate relative sensitivity of fish and 2 0 larval aquatic-phase amphibians to 45 different pesticides using existing data for three 2 1 standardized toxicity tests: (1) amphibian metamorphosis assay (AMA) with the African 2 2 clawed frog (Xenopus laevis); (2) fish short-term reproductive assay (FSTRA) with 2 3 freshwater fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas); (3) fish early life stage test with P. 2 4 promelas or rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The advantage of this dataset over 2 5previous work is that these studies show high consistency in exposure method and 2 6 exposure concentration validation, study duration, test species, endpoints measured, and 2 7 number of concentrations tested. We found very strong positive relationships between 2 8 fish and tadpole lowest adverse effect concentrations (LOAEC) for survival (r 2 =0.85, 2 9 slope=0.97), body weight (r 2 =0.77, slope=0.98), and length (r 2 =0.77, slope=0.92) with 3 0 only one out of 45 chemicals exhibiting 100-folder greater sensitivity in frogs relative to 3 1 fish. While these results suggest comparable toxicity for pesticides between these two 3 2 groups of vertebrates, testing with a greater diversity of amphibians will help determine 3 3 the generalizability of these results across all amphibians. 3 4 3 5 3

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“…Fish fecundity, for example, is a relevant adverse outcome in several AOPs (e.g., AOPs 23, 25, and 30 in https://aopwiki.org/aops). However, EDSP Tier-1/OECD Level-3 assays were not designed to specifically evaluate or quantify adverse effects so should be interpreted cautiously (Wheeler et al, 2014). Nevertheless, adapted AMA and FSTRA test protocols can provide consolidated apical endpoints with increased relevance to addressing potential population-level effects.…”

Section: Challenges Linking Endocrine Activity To Population-relevant...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Current testing programs for pesticides adequately capture endocrine activity and adversity for protection of vertebrate wildlife

Staveley

Freeman

McArdle

et al. 2023

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

Self Cite

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The toxicity and ecotoxicity of pesticide active ingredients are evaluated by a number of standardized test methods using vertebrate animals. These standard test methods are required under various regulatory programs for the registration of pesticides. Over the past two decades, additional test methods have been developed with endpoints that are responsive to endocrine activity and subsequent adverse effects. This article examines the available test methods and their endpoints that are relevant to an assessment of endocrine-disrupting properties of pesticides. Furthermore, the article highlights how weight-of-evidence approaches should be applied to determine whether an adverse response in (eco)toxicity tests is caused by an endocrine mechanism of action. The large number of endpoints in the current testing paradigms for pesticides make it unlikely that endocrine activity and adversity is being overlooked.

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Mind the gap: Concerns using endpoints from endocrine screening assays in risk assessment

Cited by 12 publications

References 18 publications

Quantitative weight-of-evidence analysis of the persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and potential for long-range transport of the cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes

Quantitative weight-of-evidence analysis of the persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and potential for long-range transport of the cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes

Evaluating the Role of Fish as Surrogates for Amphibians in Pesticide Ecological Risk Assessment

Current testing programs for pesticides adequately capture endocrine activity and adversity for protection of vertebrate wildlife

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