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HOW TO MEASURE NO EFFECT. PART IV: HOW ACCEPTABLE IS THE EC x FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY POINT OF VIEW?
Author(s) -
de BRUIJN JACK H. M.,
HOF MARGARET
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
environmetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-095X
pISSN - 1180-4009
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-095x(199705)8:3<263::aid-env247>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - legislation , estimation , risk assessment , precautionary principle , quality (philosophy) , process (computing) , point estimation , risk analysis (engineering) , statistics , computer science , political science , business , mathematics , law , economics , biology , ecology , philosophy , computer security , management , epistemology , operating system
Recently, EC point estimation (EC x , a certain percentile of the concentration–effect curve) has been mentioned in scientific literature as an alternative to the concept of deriving a no observed effect concentration (NOEC) in toxicological and ecotoxicological tests. The question of whether the NOEC approach should be exchanged for the EC x approach concerns not only test guideline development, but has also consequences in the area of risk assessment and environmental quality objectives. Therefore, from an environmental policy point of view it is essential to look critically at the advantages and disadvantages of moving away from an NOEC to EC x estimation; in environmental policy the term ‘no effect’ as well as NOEC values themselves play an important role in legislation and procedures related to risk assessment and environmental quality objectives both at a national and an international level. It seems that much depends on the exact value for the EC x that will be selected, how the resulting data correspond to the NOECs, and whether in risk assessment procedures both NOECs and EC x values can be used side by side. It should be realized however, that even with international acceptance of the EC x concept, it will probably take many years before the necessary changes in legislation and associated documents will have been made. Keeping this in mind as well as the fact that the uncertainty in the whole risk assessment process will usually be much greater than the uncertainty in the NOEC estimation, one might seriously question whether it is worth starting this process. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.