Can Saltwater Toxicity be Predicted from Freshwater Data?

摘要

The regulation of substances discharged to estuarine and coatal environments relies upon data derived form eco- toxicity tests. Most such data are generated for fresh- water rather than saltwater species. If freshwater toxicity data are related to saltwater toxic effect sin a systematic and predictable way, the former can be used to predict the latter. This would have economic advantages due to a reduction in toxicity testing of saltwater species. If tox- icity data are plotted as species sensitivity distributions, four theoretical relationships between freshwater and saltwater can be envisaged. Examples show that each one of these relationships is supported by empirical data.