The development of a toxicity database using freshwater macroinvertebrates and its application to South African water resource protection.

Palmer, C; Muller, W; Gordon, A; Scherman, P; Pakhomova, L; De Kock, E; Davies-Coleman, H

The development of a toxicity database using freshwater macroinvertebrates and its application to South African water resource protection.

Palmer, C Muller, W Gordon, A Scherman, P Pakhomova, L De Kock, E Davies-Coleman, H

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Publisher:: South African Association for the Advancement of Science
Citation:: Palmer Carolyn et al. 2004, 'The development of a toxicity database using freshwater macroinvertebrates, and its application to the protection of South African water resources', F R D, vol. 100, no. NA, pp. 643-650.
Issue Date:: 2004

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Palmer, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Muller, W	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gordon, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Scherman, P	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Pakhomova, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	De Kock, E	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Davies-Coleman, H	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2009-06-26T04:22:43Z
dc.date.available	2009-06-26T04:22:43Z
dc.date.issued	2004	en_US
dc.identifier	2006007725	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Palmer Carolyn et al. 2004, 'The development of a toxicity database using freshwater macroinvertebrates, and its application to the protection of South African water resources', F R D, vol. 100, no. NA, pp. 643-650.	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0038-2353	en_US
dc.identifier.other	C1	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/823
dc.description.abstract	There is a growing international trend towards the protection of freshwater resources from pollution by imposing instream guidelines and specified waste-discharge conditions. Current methods for devising freshwater quality guidelines are based on species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) that are used to identify pollutant concentrations, ensuring the protection of a modelled percentage of species (95% protection is a common goal). SSDs are derived from the toxicity test results of as many taxa as possible for each polluting substance. Waste-discharge licences can be for single substances, specified in terms of chemical concentrations, and derived in conjunction with instream guidelines; or for complex mixtures, specified in terms of toxic units. In both cases toxicity test results are the core data used. The emphasis on SSDs calls into question the species constituting the test populations. It is likely that SSDs based in part on the responses of local organisms will achieve superior site-specific ecological protection. Until the early 1990s, there were very few data on the tolerances of South African freshwater organisms. In the intervening decade, the Unilever Centre for Environmental Water Quality at Rhodes University has developed a toxicity database that, to date, records the responses of 21 South African freshwater taxa to 26 single-substance pollutants or mixtures. This is the most comprehensive database of South African toxicity responses available and has been used in the drawing up of methods and guidelines to protect water resources. This paper aims to make these data available and to describe applications of the data using selected case studies.	en_US
dc.publisher	South African Association for the Advancement of Science	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	South African Journal of Science	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	NA	en_US
dc.title	The development of a toxicity database using freshwater macroinvertebrates and its application to South African water resource protection.	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	100	en_US
utslib.citation.number	NA	en_US
utslib.location	South Africa	en_US
utslib.citation.startpage	643	en_US
utslib.citation.endpage	650	en_US
utslib.identifier.org	DVCRch.Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Mgmnt	en_US
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access

Abstract:

There is a growing international trend towards the protection of freshwater resources from pollution by imposing instream guidelines and specified waste-discharge conditions. Current methods for devising freshwater quality guidelines are based on species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) that are used to identify pollutant concentrations, ensuring the protection of a modelled percentage of species (95% protection is a common goal). SSDs are derived from the toxicity test results of as many taxa as possible for each polluting substance. Waste-discharge licences can be for single substances, specified in terms of chemical concentrations, and derived in conjunction with instream guidelines; or for complex mixtures, specified in terms of toxic units. In both cases toxicity test results are the core data used. The emphasis on SSDs calls into question the species constituting the test populations. It is likely that SSDs based in part on the responses of local organisms will achieve superior site-specific ecological protection. Until the early 1990s, there were very few data on the tolerances of South African freshwater organisms. In the intervening decade, the Unilever Centre for Environmental Water Quality at Rhodes University has developed a toxicity database that, to date, records the responses of 21 South African freshwater taxa to 26 single-substance pollutants or mixtures. This is the most comprehensive database of South African toxicity responses available and has been used in the drawing up of methods and guidelines to protect water resources. This paper aims to make these data available and to describe applications of the data using selected case studies.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/823