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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Landis, Wayne G.
Introduction to environmental toxicology : impacts of chemicals upon ecological systems, /
Wayne G. Landis, Ming-Ho Yu — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56670-265-8 (alk. paper)
1. Pollution—Environmental aspects. 2. Pollutants—Toxicology.
I. Yu, Ming-Ho, 1928-. II. Title.
QH545.A1L35 1998
571.9′5--dc21 97-50324
CIP
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Preface
We have prepared this text because we had no suitable text for teaching courses
introducing environmental toxicology and biochemistry. Portions of this book have
already been used to teach an introduction to environmental toxicology and bio-
chemical toxicology courses at Western Washington University and changes sug-
gested by these students have been incorporated. In general these students have
backgrounds in organic chemistry, ecology, calculus, and often biochemistry. We
appreciate any feedback and these suggestions will be incorporated into, hopefully,
further editions.
One of the major difficulties in preparing this book has been the rate of change
seen in the field. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prepared a new Frame-
work for Ecological Risk Assessment, nonlinear dynamics has become a major part
of ecological theory, and new methods of examining effects at the level of community
and ecosystem have been developed during the writing of this book.
Now it is two years later and we have made major revisions to this edition in
order to keep pace with the field of environmental toxicology. Ecological risk
assessment has become the operating paradigm and estrogen disruption has taken
on a new importance. The field is more sophisticated in the data analysis tools that
it uses and multivariate approaches are becoming more common in the literature.
Perhaps the most recent development is the awareness that effects and risks must
be seen on a regional scale. Multiple natural and anthropogenic stressors occur to
a variety of connected habitats. In order to understand the patterns in the environment
that result from the introduction of chemicals, we must take a large scale approach.
It will be interesting to see what the next several years bring.
The Authors
Wayne G. Landis is the Director of The Institute
of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry of
Huxley College, Western Washington University.
He received his undergraduate degree from Wake
Forest University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Zool-
ogy from Indiana University. With a background in
protozoan genetics and ecology, his research has
since concentrated on environmental toxicology. In
the past several years, he has published over 80
papers and received two patents on microbial deg-
radation. In 1991 he chaired the annual Environ-
mental Toxicology and Risk Assessment Symposium sponsored by the American
Society for Testing and Materials held in Atlantic City and served as Organizational
Chair for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry held in Seattle. During 1992 he served as President of the Pacific North-
west Chapter of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
(PNWSETAC). Dr. Landis also has served on the editorial boards of several journals.
Since 1989 he has edited three books on aquatic toxicology and risk assessment
published by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
Dr. Landis teaches courses in environmental and aquatic toxicology, environ-
mental risk assessment, and population biology. His current research includes devel-
oping new methods of evaluating environmental toxicity using birds and marine
organisms, establishing interspecies structure activity models, evaluation multispe-
cies toxicity tests, and the description of how ecosystems respond to stressors.
Perhaps the most intriguing avenue of research has been the implementation of
chaos and complexity theory to describe the dynamics of ecological systems after
toxicant stress. This research has cast a great deal of doubt as to the existence of
ecosystem recovery of stability in regards to the dynamics after a stressor event.
Ming-Ho Yu received his B.S. degree in Agricul-
tural Chemistry from National Taiwan University
and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Plant Nutrition
and Biochemistry from Utah State University. He
did his postdoctoral work at the University of
Alberta in Edmonton, Canada and Utah State Uni-
versity. Dr. Yu was associated with Huxley College
of Environmental Studies, Western Washington
University for 27 years, where he taught environ-
mental toxicology and related courses until his
retirement in 1997. He spent a year of sabbatical
leave as Visiting Professor at the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, Iwate
Medical University in Morioka, Japan. He also spent a summer at the Institute of
Whole Body Metabolism in Nauchi, Japan, where he conducted research as a visiting
research scientist.
Dr. Yu is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
American Chemical Society, American Society for Nutritional Sciences, Interna-
tional Society for Fluoride Research, New York Academy of Sciences, and the
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. He is the past president of the
International Society for Fluoride Research, and is co-editor of Environmental Sci-
ences, an international journal on environmental physiology and toxicology pub-
lished in Tokyo, Japan.
Acknowledgment
A major part of this book was written based on the notes and other course
materials I used in teaching environmental toxicology-related courses at Western
Washington University over the past 20 plus years. I want to thank my former
students who took those classes from me. Many of them made critical comments
on the course materials I used, and their comments inspired me greatly. Special
appreciation is due to my wife, Ervena, for her moral support during the course of
preparing the manuscript.
M.H.Y.
The students of my environmental toxicology courses during the past eight years
at Western Washington University have suffered through the notes, figures, and the
first edition, and I thank them for participating in this undertaking. Traci Litwiller
compiled the methods summaries, April Markiewicz generated the appendix of
methods references, and Lisa Holmquist was instrumental in the editing of the first
edition. Kyra Freestar was a great help in the preparation of the second edition. Ruth
Noellgen let me modify several of the figures from her thesis for this text. My
students and colleagues that have used the first edition have contributed numerous
suggestions and we have tried to incorporate them into this edition. Linda S. Landis
prepared the study questions and provided her unrelenting support of the project in
spite of the evenings alone raising two delightful daughters who place this effort in
perspective, Margaret and Eva.
W.G.L.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction to Environmental Toxicology
Environmental Toxicology as an Interdisciplinary Science
A Brief History and Organizations in Environmental Toxicology
Legislation
Introduction to the Textbook
References
Chapter 2
A Framework for Environmental Toxicology
The Classical Viewpoint for Classifying Toxicological Effects
Chemical Physical-Chemical Characteristics
Bioaccumulation/Biotransformation/Biodegradation
Receptor and the Mode of Action
Biochemical and Molecular Effects
Physiological and Behavioral Effects
Population Parameters
Community Effects
Ecosystem Effects
An Alternative Framework Incorporating Complexity Theory
Spatial and Temporal Scales
References and Suggested Readings
Study Questions
Chapter 3
An Introduction to Toxicity Testing
The Dose-Response Curve
Standard Methods
Advantages of Standard Methods
Disadvantages of Standard Methods
Classification of Toxicity Tests
Design Parameters for Single Species Toxicity Tests
Exposure Scenarios
Test Organisms
Comparison of Test Species
Statistical Design Parameters
Overview of Available Statistical Methods for the Evaluation of Single
Species Toxicity Tests
Commonly Used Methods for the Calculation of Endpoints
Comparison of Calculations of Several Programs for Calculating
Probit Analysis
Data Analysis for Chronic Toxicity Tests
The Design of Multispecies Toxicity Tests
The Nature of Multispecies Toxicity Tests
Data Analysis and Interpretation of Multispecies Toxicity Tests
Univariate Methods
Multivariate Methods
Visualization
Summary of Design Guidelines for Multispecies Toxicity Tests
Basic Principles
Experimental Design
Data Analysis
References and Suggested Readings
Study Questions
Chapter 4
Survey and Review of Typical Toxicity Test Methods
Single Species Toxicity Tests
Daphnia 48-H Acute Toxicity Test
Algal 96-H Growth Toxicity Test
Acute Toxicity Tests with Aquatic Vertebrates and Macroinvertebrates
Terrestrial Vertebrate Toxicity Tests
Animal Care and Use Considerations
Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay: FETAX
Multispecies Toxicity Tests
Standardized Aquatic Microcosm
Mixed Flask Culture
FIFRA Microcosm
Soil Core Microcosm
Summary
Appendix: The Natural History and Utilization of Selected Test Species
Aquatic Vertebrates
Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
Goldfish (Carassius auratus)
Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Invertebrates — Freshwater
Daphnids (Daphnia magna, D. pulex, D. pulicaria,
Ceriodaphnia dubia)
Amphipods (Gammarus lacustris, G. fasciatus, G. pseudolimnaeus,
Hyalella azteca)
Crayfish (Orconectes sp., Combarus sp., Procambarus sp.,
Pacifastacus leniusculus)
Stoneflies (Pteronarcys sp.)
Mayflies (Baetis sp., Ephemeralla sp., Hexagenia limbata,
H. bilineata)
Midges (Chironomus sp.)
Snails (Physa integra, P. herterostropha, Amnicola limosa):
(Mollusca, Gastropoda)
Planaria (Dugesia tigrina): (Platyhelminthes, Turbellaria)
Invertebrates — Saltwater
Copepods (Acartia clausi, Acartia tonsa)
Algae
Chlamydomonas reinhardi
Ulothrix sp.
Microcystis aeruginosa
Anabaena flos-aquae
Avian Species
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)
Ring-Necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
References and Suggested Readings
Study Questions
Chapter 5
Routes of Exposure and Modes of Action
The Damage Process
Atmospheric Pollutants and Plants
Plant Injury
Vertebrates
Exposure
Uptake
Transport
Storage
Metabolism
Excretion
Mechanisms of Action
Disruption or Destruction of Cellular Structure
Direct Chemical Combination with a Cellular Constituent
Effect on Enzymes
Secondary Action as a Result of the Presence of a Pollutant
Metal Shift
Common Modes of Action in Detail
Narcosis
Organophosphates
Monohaloacetic Acids
Introduction to QSAR
Construction of QSAR Models
Typical QSAR Model Development
Estimation of Toxicity Using QSAR
