Proposal of novel Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC) for metals in freshwater using Species Sensitivity Distribution for different taxonomic groups
Abstract Water pollution by metals and metalloids promotes toxic effects to aquatic biota especially in mining regions. Environmental legislation applied to protect aquatic life from the toxicity of metals relies on the definition of protective values (PVs) for each compound. Among methods used to d...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92692-4 |
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| author | Gisele Alves Miranda Fábio Soares dos Santos Marcela Lourenço Pereira Cardoso Matthew Etterson Camila C. Amorim Maria Clara V. M. Starling |
| author_facet | Gisele Alves Miranda Fábio Soares dos Santos Marcela Lourenço Pereira Cardoso Matthew Etterson Camila C. Amorim Maria Clara V. M. Starling |
| author_sort | Gisele Alves Miranda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Water pollution by metals and metalloids promotes toxic effects to aquatic biota especially in mining regions. Environmental legislation applied to protect aquatic life from the toxicity of metals relies on the definition of protective values (PVs) for each compound. Among methods used to define PVs, Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) curves enable the derivation of the Predicted No Effect concentration (PNEC). In this context, this is one of the first studies to propose the construction of acute and chronic split SSD curves built separately for three groups of freshwater organisms (algae, invertebrates and fish) to derive PNEC values for the 14 metals most commonly observed in iron ore mining tailings. Data used to construct split SSD curves were derived from the USEPA ECOTOX knowledgebase and EnviroTox databases and segregated according to the freshwater organism group and as “acute” or “chronic” toxicity. Then, split SSD curves were built using a minimum of nine species for each group to determine the hazardous concentration to 5% of species (HC5) and PNEC values for each group. Once PNEC were derived, a framework was proposed to calculate the Bioavailabity Factor (BioF) used to adjust values for local bioavailability conditions considering water quality characteristics in different regions. The lowest acute PNEC were observed for algae and invertebrates and corresponded to Silver (Ag). Nearly half of calculated PNEC were below current PVs in practice in Brazil, United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Canada and European Union (EU). Results reinforce the pertinence of: (i) splitting SSD curves to define PVs for metals; and (ii) taking bioavailability into consideration to correct PNEC for local conditions. In addition, outcomes suggest that it is critical to rethink PVs related to metals for aquatic life protection, mainly in Brazil and Minas Gerais state, a region known for extensive mining activity. Finally, PNEC values obtained in this study may be used for ecological risk assessment studies, especially in areas affected by mining and other activities that result in pollution by metals and metalloids, such as Brazil. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ecc8598f691a4eafbcd768ca57ba68b8 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-ecc8598f691a4eafbcd768ca57ba68b82025-08-20T03:01:43ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-03-0115111310.1038/s41598-025-92692-4Proposal of novel Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC) for metals in freshwater using Species Sensitivity Distribution for different taxonomic groupsGisele Alves Miranda0Fábio Soares dos Santos1Marcela Lourenço Pereira Cardoso2Matthew Etterson3Camila C. Amorim4Maria Clara V. M. Starling5Research Group on Environmental Applications of Advanced Oxidation Processes, Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, The Federal University of Minas GeraisDepartment of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Minas GeraisResearch Group on Environmental Applications of Advanced Oxidation Processes, Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, The Federal University of Minas GeraisOffice of Research and Development, Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division, US Environmental Protection AgencyResearch Group on Environmental Applications of Advanced Oxidation Processes, Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, The Federal University of Minas GeraisResearch Group on Environmental Applications of Advanced Oxidation Processes, Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, The Federal University of Minas GeraisAbstract Water pollution by metals and metalloids promotes toxic effects to aquatic biota especially in mining regions. Environmental legislation applied to protect aquatic life from the toxicity of metals relies on the definition of protective values (PVs) for each compound. Among methods used to define PVs, Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) curves enable the derivation of the Predicted No Effect concentration (PNEC). In this context, this is one of the first studies to propose the construction of acute and chronic split SSD curves built separately for three groups of freshwater organisms (algae, invertebrates and fish) to derive PNEC values for the 14 metals most commonly observed in iron ore mining tailings. Data used to construct split SSD curves were derived from the USEPA ECOTOX knowledgebase and EnviroTox databases and segregated according to the freshwater organism group and as “acute” or “chronic” toxicity. Then, split SSD curves were built using a minimum of nine species for each group to determine the hazardous concentration to 5% of species (HC5) and PNEC values for each group. Once PNEC were derived, a framework was proposed to calculate the Bioavailabity Factor (BioF) used to adjust values for local bioavailability conditions considering water quality characteristics in different regions. The lowest acute PNEC were observed for algae and invertebrates and corresponded to Silver (Ag). Nearly half of calculated PNEC were below current PVs in practice in Brazil, United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Canada and European Union (EU). Results reinforce the pertinence of: (i) splitting SSD curves to define PVs for metals; and (ii) taking bioavailability into consideration to correct PNEC for local conditions. In addition, outcomes suggest that it is critical to rethink PVs related to metals for aquatic life protection, mainly in Brazil and Minas Gerais state, a region known for extensive mining activity. Finally, PNEC values obtained in this study may be used for ecological risk assessment studies, especially in areas affected by mining and other activities that result in pollution by metals and metalloids, such as Brazil.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92692-4EcotoxicityMiningBioavailabilityEnvironmental legislationAquatic life protection |
| spellingShingle | Gisele Alves Miranda Fábio Soares dos Santos Marcela Lourenço Pereira Cardoso Matthew Etterson Camila C. Amorim Maria Clara V. M. Starling Proposal of novel Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC) for metals in freshwater using Species Sensitivity Distribution for different taxonomic groups Scientific Reports Ecotoxicity Mining Bioavailability Environmental legislation Aquatic life protection |
| title | Proposal of novel Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC) for metals in freshwater using Species Sensitivity Distribution for different taxonomic groups |
| title_full | Proposal of novel Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC) for metals in freshwater using Species Sensitivity Distribution for different taxonomic groups |
| title_fullStr | Proposal of novel Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC) for metals in freshwater using Species Sensitivity Distribution for different taxonomic groups |
| title_full_unstemmed | Proposal of novel Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC) for metals in freshwater using Species Sensitivity Distribution for different taxonomic groups |
| title_short | Proposal of novel Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC) for metals in freshwater using Species Sensitivity Distribution for different taxonomic groups |
| title_sort | proposal of novel predicted no effect concentrations pnec for metals in freshwater using species sensitivity distribution for different taxonomic groups |
| topic | Ecotoxicity Mining Bioavailability Environmental legislation Aquatic life protection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92692-4 |
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