ANALYSIS OF TOXICITY TESTS ON DAPHNIA SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION

We present a statistical analysis of bioassays for Daphnia survival an d reproduction, such as the routine toxicity test that is described in the OECD guideline 202. The analysis is based on the Dynamic Energy B udget theory and a one-compartment kinetics for the toxic compound. It is fully process oriented. We compare a formulation in terms of effec ts on survival during oogenesis to various direct and indirect effects on the energetics of reproduction. All formulations characterize the effects by a no-effect concentration, a tolerance concentration and th e elimination rate. We conclude that all options lead to similar no-ef fect levels. We compare the analysis to the standard NOEC/EC50 analysi s and conclude that our analysis is both simpler and more effective. C opyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd