Alternative approaches to vertebrate ecotoxicity tests in the 21st century: A review of developments over the last 2 decades and current status

The need for alternative approaches to the use of vertebrate animals for hazard assessment of chemicals and pollutants has become of increasing importance. It is now the first consideration when initiating a vertebrate ecotoxicity test, to ensure that unnecessary use of vertebrate organisms is minim...

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Published inEnvironmental toxicology and chemistry Vol. 35; no. 11; pp. 2637 - 2646
Main Authors Lillicrap, Adam, Belanger, Scott, Burden, Natalie, Pasquier, David Du, Embry, Michelle R., Halder, Marlies, Lampi, Mark A., Lee, Lucy, Norberg-King, Teresa, Rattner, Barnett A., Schirmer, Kristin, Thomas, Paul
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2016
Subjects
3Rs
Animal Testing Alternatives - methods
Animals
Chemicals
Ecology
Ecotoxicity
Embryo, Nonmammalian - drug effects
Embryo, Nonmammalian - physiology
Endocrine Disruptors - toxicity
Fishes - growth & development
Fishes - physiology
Hazardous Substances - toxicity
In silico
In vitro
Pollutants
Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship
Risk Assessment
Toxicity
Toxicity Tests - methods
Vertebrate
Vertebrates
Vertebrates - growth & development
Vertebrates - physiology
In silico
3Rs
In vitro
Ecotoxicity
Vertebrate
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Summary:The need for alternative approaches to the use of vertebrate animals for hazard assessment of chemicals and pollutants has become of increasing importance. It is now the first consideration when initiating a vertebrate ecotoxicity test, to ensure that unnecessary use of vertebrate organisms is minimized wherever possible. For some regulatory purposes, the use of vertebrate organisms for environmental risk assessments has been banned; in other situations, the number of organisms tested has been dramatically reduced or the severity of the procedure refined. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve a complete replacement of vertebrate organisms to generate environmental hazard data. The development of animal alternatives is based not just on ethical considerations but also on reducing the cost of performing vertebrate ecotoxicity tests and in some cases on providing better information aimed at improving environmental risk assessments. The present Focus article provides an overview of the considerable advances that have been made toward alternative approaches for ecotoxicity assessments over the last few decades. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2637–2646. © 2016 SETAC
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ISSN:0730-7268
1552-8618
DOI:10.1002/etc.3603