Ecotoxicity: Protecting Wildlife Populations

Ecotoxicology (including bioaccumulation) is the basis for defining the Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) used in risk assessment.

The development of innovative environmental technologies is undertaken using a range of freshwater, marine or terrestrial species in order to match the predicted exposure scenario for a substance.   Examples of current ecotoxicology projects are:

• Animal welfare and fish testing.   Current regulation demands the widespread conduct of fish LC50 tests, reflecting concern in the past over fish kills in rivers and lakes.  Today, there is a need to reflect scientific and ethical progress, and move away from vertebrate LC50 tests and adopt validated screening assays using more humane endpoints or alternative species.  AstraZeneca is therefore supporting research into fish embryo screening assays and in vitro fish cell lines (also useful for metabolism research).

• Reproductive and Developmental Health . In nature, ecological quality depends on the ability of organisms to survive, breed and rear healthy offspring.  Research into endocrine disruption is an important area, taking into account Mode-of Action (MOA) approach in the efficient design of long-term ecotoxicity tests.  Published data from external scientists suggests that in the future there will be a need to address a spectrum of receptor mediated versus metabolically modulated reproductive effects in fish, invertebrates and plants.