SREL Reprint #1821

Quantifying animal size effects on toxicity: a general approach

Michael C. Newman, M. Michelle Keklak, and M. Steven Doggett

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, PO. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA

Abstract: A general approach is described for quantifying size-dependent, toxicant impact. This approach is less restrictive than the commonly used approach developed by Bliss (1936), and its generality allows more effective model generation. A range of response metameters (rate of toxic action, time-to-death, ln time-to-death) and covariate (body size and toxicant concentration) transformations are assessed using an aquatic species. The best model for the error term can be chosen from the normal, log normal, log logistic, Weibull, and gamma distributions. Exposure survivors and assignment of times-to-death to intervals are accommodated easily with this maximum likelihood method.

Keywords: Toxicity; Body size; Modeling; Statistics; Fish body size

SREL Reprint #1821

Newman, M.C., M.M. Keklak, and M.S. Doggett. 1994. Quantifying animal size effects on toxicity: a general approach. Aquatic Toxicology 28:1-12. 

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).