9637

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9637
• Author: American Society For Testing And Materials.
• Title: Standard Practice For Conducting Acute Toxicity Tests With Fishes, Microinvertebrates, And Amphibians.
• USFW Year: 1980.
• USFW - Doc Type: Philadelphia, PA.
• Copyright Material: YES

and conditions used. However, the results of
tests conducted with unusual procedures are
not likely to be comparable to those of many
other tests. Therefore, before these procedures
are modified, the investigator should consult
an aquatic biologist, analytical chemist, bio-
metrician, environmental chemist, and aquatic
toxicologist. These procedures are not meant to
discourage research on methodology or the
study of new concepts and procedures, but they
should be used as the basis of comparison for
other procedures.
1.6 Since not all details are covered in this
practice, successful execution of these tests will
require some training or experience in aquatic
toxicology or aquatic biology, or both, as well
as a familiarity with the material in the refer-
ences.
1.7 If available, an applicable good labora-
tory practice should be read before beginning
a test.
1.8 The results of an acute toxicity test
should usually be reported in terms of the LC50
(median lethal concentration) or EC50 (median
effective concentration) and the 95 % confi-
dence limits.
1.9 This practice is arranged as follows:
Section

Applicable Documents
Summary of Practice
Significance
Terminology
Apparatus
Facilities
Special Requirements
Construction Materials
Metering System
Test Chambers
Cleaning
Acceptability
Safety Precautions
Dilution Water
General Requirements
Types
Recommendations
Toxicant
General
Concentrations Tested
Test Organisms
Species
Source
Size
Care and Handling
Disease Treatment
Holding
Acclimation
Quality
Procedure
Experimental Design
Dissolved Oxygen

2
3
4
5
6
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
7
8
8.1
8.2
8.3
9
9.1
9.2
10
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8
II
11.1
11.2

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E 729

Temperature
Loading
Beginning the Test
Feeding
Duration
Biological Data
Chemical and Physical Data
Quality Criteria
Calculations
Reports
Precision

11.3
11.4
11.5
11.6
11.7
11.8
11.9
12
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14
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2. Applicable Documents

2.1 ASTM Standards:
D 1129 Tests for Definitions of Terms Re-
lating to Water3
E 380 Metric Practice Guide'

3. Summary of Practice

3.1 Separate groups of test organisms of the
same species are subjected to various treat-
ments for 2 to 8 days by exposing each group
to a different test solution that contains a dif-
ferent specified concentration of toxicant. One
or more control treatments are used to provide
a measure of the acceptability of the test by
giving some indication of the quality of the test
organisms and the suitability of the dilution
water, test conditions, handling procedures, etc.
A control treatment is an exposure of the test
organisms to dilution water with no toxicant
intentionally added. The other treatments con-
sist of dilution water with toxicant added.
3.2 A toxicant is a material whose toxicity is
studied in a toxicity test. For the purposes of
this practice, the toxicant can be one or more
chemical compounds or a complex mixture
such as a formulation or commercial product.
Sometimes the test solutions are not true solu-
tions because they contain undissolved toxi-
cant. Test solutions are often prepared by dis-
solving toxicant in a solvent, preferably water,
to form a stable stock solution, and then adding
a portion ofthe stock solution to dilution water.
3.3 Generally the most important data ob-
tained from an acute toxicity test are the per-
centages of test organisms that are affected in
a defined way by each of the treatments after
specified lengths of exposure. The results de-
rived from these data are a measure of the
toxicity of the toxicant to the test organisms
under the conditions of the test, or, in other

'Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Part 3\.
4 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Part 41, excerpts in
all parts.

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