Predictability of Chronic Toxicity From Acute Toxicity of Chemicals in Fish and Aquatic Invertebrates

Abstract

The relationship of the acute LC,, of chemicals to their chronic toxicity for aquatic animals can be expressed as the acute chronic ratio (ACR). Based on ACR data accumulated from the literature, the size ranges of ACRs for various chemicals were determined for different species. The relationship and significance of the size of the ACR for various species, LC,, values, bioconcentration factors, classes of chemicals and their uses and mode of toxic action are given. Eighty-six percent of the LC,, acute toxicity data were less than two orders of magnitude different from the chronic toxicity no-effect concentration for the same chemicals and species. Among the industrial organic chemicals (i.e., excluding pesticides and metals) the average ACR for four species of organisms was 12. Ninety-three percent of these ACR values were 25 or below. Industrial organic chemicals have a higher percentage of ACR values below 25 do than pesticides and heavy metals. These data offer a statistical basis for the prediction of chronic toxicity from acute toxicity.

Chronic ecotoxicity of Zn and Pb to the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha

“…For both Zn and Pb, the effects increased by a factor 4 when the exposure period was increased from 48 h to 10 weeks. Kenaga (1982) calculated acute-to-chronic ratio's (ACR) based on LCs0's for several toxicants. The few data available for invertebrates, mainly Daphnia, suggest that these ACR's are much higher for non-essential metals than for essential metals.…”

“…for the freshwater mussel Corbicula manilensis the LCs0 for Cu decreased with increasing exposure time (Harrison et al, 1984). Kenaga (1982) calculated acute-chronic ratios (ACR; the acute ECs0 divided by the chronic ECs0) for a number of substances and organisms and demonstrated that for Daphnia magna the ACRs for Pb and Cd were much higher than for Zn and Cu, possibly because Cu and Zn are essential metals, whereas Pb and Cd are not known to have any biological function. Kraak et al (1992) observed that the ECs0 for Cd for filtration rate of the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha decreased when exposure time was increased from 48 h to 10 weeks, whereas the effects of Cu did not increase during prolonged exposure.…”

Regional multi-compartment ecological risk assessment: Establishing cadmium pollution risk in the northern Bohai Rim, China

“…The SSDs for cadmium in soil, river water, river sediment, coastal water, and coastal sediment (Fig. 4) were constructed with EC 50 /LC 50 / IC 50 values which were divided by a safety assessing factor (the factor is equal to 5 in this case (Kenaga, 1982;Maltby et al, 2005) to determine the sensitivity of terrestrial, river aquatic and benthic, coastal aquatic and benthic organisms.…”

A Toxicological Basis to Derive a Generic Interspecies Uncertainty Factor.

“…This does not appear to be a serious concern because acute responses have been shown to be effective predictors of chronic effects of both a carcinogenic (5) and noncarcinogenic nature (3,4,6,7). In fact, the chronic no-observed adverse effect level in mammalian models and the chronic maximum acceptable toxicant concentration in fish have been similarly estimated by dividing the acutely lethal dose (LD50/LC50) by approximately 50-75 (4,6,7,8). These data show a high degree of fundamental concordance between fish and mammalian responses with respect to the capacity of acute doses to estimate chronic responses.…”