Accounting for Toxicity Test Variability in Evaluating Test Results
Research Impact
Limits on whole effluent toxicity (WET) have been part of the U.S. EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) for sometime. While not all discharge permits have WET limits, it is generally agreed that such limits are an important component of efforts to improve the quality of the nation’s surface waters. An important issue that has been raised by permitees and the scientific community is associated with the inherent reliability and precision of WET test results, and the ability of the test results to accurately reflect the toxicity of discharges. The goal of this research was to evaluate WET test reliability and precision from the standpoint of test variability, particularly when model-based endpoints (e.g., LC50 and IC25) are used as measures of effect. Published by WERF. 192 pages. Online PDF.
Originally funded as WERF project 00-ECO-1a.
