Abstract
Hormesis and essentiality are likely real and common effects at the level of the individual. However, the widespread incorporation of stimulatory effects into applications of ecotoxicology requires the acceptance of assumptions, value judgements and possibly lowering of water/sediment quality standards. There is also currently little data appropriate for considering hormetic effects in the ecotoxicological context. Except perhaps in the case of fitting concentration-response curves, it is not clear that incorporation of hormetic and essentiality type responses into ecotoxicology is necessary. Furthermore, its incorporation presents considerable intellectual and practical changes for ecotoxicology and could have unanticipated consequences.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 516-523 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Environmental Pollution |
| Volume | 151 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 7 Jun 2007 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2008 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
We thank Peter Obendorf for discussion of iodine deficiency disorders and for comments on the manuscript. B.J.K. was supported by the National Rivers Contaminants Program, an initiative of Land and Water Australia (Project RMI 12) and the Murray Darling Basin Commission and subsequently by an Australian Postdoctoral Industry (APDI) fellowship from the Australian Research Council (LP0669113).
Keywords
- Concentration-response curve
- Ecotoxicology theory
- Essential elements
- Hormesis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Toxicology
- Pollution
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis