Data quality evaluation of toxicological studies used to derive ecotoxicological benchmarks

Ecotoxicological benchmarks are used extensively in ecological risk assessment to determine if chemicals present in or potentially released to the environment pose an ecological threat. No consistent standards currently exist for data quality evaluation of toxicological studies used to derive ecotoxicological benchmarks for use in risk assessment. This paper outlines a two-phased approach for evaluating the quality of ecotoxicological data to be used in benchmark development. First, toxicological studies are reviewed to determine their adherence to a set of standardized toxicological testing and reporting protocols. Second, once the studies have been characterized according to adherence to the protocols, a quality descriptor is assigned based on the degree to which these protocols were applied. This data quality descriptor can be used to define the suitability of ecotoxicological data for benchmark development and to characterize the data quality of any resultant benchmark. As a test case, we apply this two-phased approach to some benchmarks commonly used in ecological risk assessment. It is hoped that use of this approach will lead to a greater understanding of the strengths and limitations of ecotoxicological benchmarks for use in ecological risk assessment and ultimately support more informed risk management decisions.