One of the jobs of an environmental regulatory body is to establish acceptable levels of containments in the ecosystem under its jurisdiction. But can the data they are basing their decisions on be relevant when standard toxicity tests have been carried out on non-native species, or when tests have not been carried out across the whole ecosystem?
This Critical Review from Samantha Eslava Martins and Adalto Bianchini at the Federal University of Rio Grande, Brazil, presents the first database of toxicological tests performed with Brazilian aquatic species. Brazil has a hugely varied ecosystem and by analysing the database they were able to identify large gaps in current research efforts – both geographical and in the species tested.
Such an approach could be easily adopted by other countries, and could be a valuable tool to help researchers understand where more information is needed or to help policy makers make more realistic decisions about the protection of the environment.
As with all our HOT articles, this one is also free to access for 4 weeks, so why not take a look:
Toxicity tests aiming to protect Brazilian aquatic systems: current status and implications for management
Samantha Eslava Martins and Adalto Bianchini
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00787K
