The food web approach in ecotoxicological risk assessment

The Standing Committee on Ecotoxicology of the Health Council of the Netherlands (see note at the end of this article) has reported on the potential and limitations associated with the use of food web models in ecotoxicological risk assessment. This paper closely follows the executive summary of that report. The current appoach in ecotoxicological risk assessment is based on single species toxicity tests. It is felt that the food web approach, which takes feeding relationships between species in ecosystems into account, provides an opportunity to address effects of toxic substances on the ecosystem level. It is considered to be particularly useful in site-specific risk assessment concerning specific (types of) ecosystems. However, supplementary research must be carried out before food web models can be used in ecotoxicological risk assessment.