The 3Rs in ecotoxicology – where do we stand and where do we need to go with respect to fish?

Titel:	The 3Rs in ecotoxicology – where do we stand and where do we need to go with respect to fish?
Kategorie:	Oekotoxzentrum - Aktuelle Stunde
Datum:	08. Apr. 2013, 15:00 Uhr - 16:00 Uhr
Ort:	Eawag Dübendorf
	Forum Chriesbach, C24
Referenten:	Prof. Dr. Kristin Schirmer
Leitung:	Dr. Inge Werner
Kosten:	kostenlos/free
Download:	als Kalender-Eintrag

Fish are the dominant vertebrate species for the regulatory evaluation of ecotoxicity and are generally afforded the same legal protection as mammals. The test for acute fish toxicity (OECD, 1992) is the most commonly used animal test in environmental risk assessment; it requires a substantial number of fish, 42 to 60, takes five working days. The fish early life-stage (FELS) test guideline (OECD 210) is the most frequently used bioassay for predicting chronic fish toxicity. This test requires a minimum of 360 fish and one to three months from test initiation to termination. Both tests emphasize on apical endpoints, such as survival and growth, thus providing little to no information about the mechanisms leading toxicity. Taken together, the search for approaches that allow a replacement, reduction or refinement (3Rs) of toxicity tests with fish is motivated on scientific, ethical and economic grounds.

My presentation will focus on current experimental advances to predict fish acute toxicity using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo and a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) gill cell line. I moreover would like to discuss how a combination of i) establishing mechanisms of toxic action; ii) verifying chemical uptake and elimination; and iii) converting conceptual linkages from exposure to response by means of mechanistic computational models may help to more rapidly and rationally progress toward the 3Rs in environmental risk assessment.