The use of diagnostic tools to assess the risks of chemicals to freshwater ecosystems: towards a unified evaluation framework.

ABSTRACT: The risk assessment of chemicals relies on multiple tools to quantify the ecological responses of ecosystems to existing chemical pollution. These tools are broadly categorized into three major groups: toxic pressure assessments, bioassays, and ecological monitoring. Here, we examine the strengths and limitations of these approaches, their current level of implementation for freshwater ecosystems across Europe, and their ability to evaluate the impacts of chemicals under field conditions. Additionally, we analyze the correspondence between results obtained from these tools when applied to a monitoring dataset from German streams. Our evaluation showed that no single tool can perfectly characterize the environmental impacts of chemical mixtures. However, each provides distinct lines of evid

SUBMITTER: Rico A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12575600 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature