Characterizing and identifying toxicants in marine waters: a review of marine toxicity identification evaluations (TIEs)

One impact of human activity is contamination of the world's oceans with to xic pollutants. Marine toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) technology provides an approach for characterizing and identifying the causes of toxic ity in aqueous and sediment samples. This review describes the evolution an d use of marine TIEs since their initial development approximately fifteen years ago. Currently, 30 marine species are used in TIEs around the world o n samples ranging from industrial and municipal effluents to sediment inter stitial waters. Primary applications of TIEs have been for environmental re gulatory purposes, specifically effluent permitting, but other potential us es include the assessment of contaminated sites and performance of risk ass essments. When used with toxicity reduction evaluations (TRE) or other reme dial techniques, TIEs can be a cost-effective tool for protecting oceanic r esources.