TESTING DIFFICULT SUBSTANCES FOR AQUATIC TOXICITY: STRATEGIES FOR POORLY WATER SOLUBLE TEST ITEMS

摘要

None of us would be traveling in cars, buses, or planes without the use of lubricants and oils for transportation. Similarly, taking notes during classes or at scientific conferences would not be as convenient without the use of waterproof ink in ballpoint pens. To function correctly, many commonly used industrial and commercial chemical formulations are designed to be poorly soluble in water. For example, inks and dyes, pesticides, pharmaceutical formulations, lubricants, oils, and petrochemical-based products are necessarily insoluble in water, and this desirable property makes them effective. However, this same property makes aquatic toxicity testing challenging and can result in erroneous test endpoints if steps are not taken to test these materials properly. Regulatory authorities and risk assessors require reliability and accuracy in toxicity testing data in order to make informed decisions about the environmental safety of these products.