TOXICITY OF BINARY-MIXTURES OF REACTIVE TOXICANTS

This study evaluated the toxicity of binary mixtures of reactive toxic ants using the Microtox test. Greater than additive effects were quite frequently observed (18%) among chemicals with different mechanisms o f toxicity, and some of them were severely synergistic. The concentrat ion-addition model, therefore, may not be appropriate for estimating t he multiple toxicity of mixtures containing reactive toxicants. The sl ope of a chemical's concentration-response curve was found to play an important role in determining the mode of joint actions, which could b e related to the complex joint action identified earlier. The results of this study have been summarized into several relationships that can be used to estimate the potential risks for mixtures with unknown tox icity. (C) 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.