Modeling and interpreting biological effects of mixtures in the environment: introduction to the metal mixture modeling evaluation project

Recommended updates to the USEPA Framework for Metals Risk Assessment: Aquatic ecosystems

In 2007, the USEPA issued its "Framework for Metals Risk Assessment." The framework provides technical guidance to risk assessors and regulators when performing human health and environmental risk assessments of metals. This article focuses on advances in the science including assessing bioavailability in aquatic ecosystems, short- and long-term fate of metals in aquatic ecosystems, and advances in risk assessment of metals in sediments. Notable advances have occurred in the development of bioavailability models for assessing toxicity as a function of water chemistry in freshwater ecosystems. The biotic ligand model (BLM), the multiple linear regression model, and multimetal BLM now exist for most of the common mono- and divalent metals. Species sensitivity distributions for many metals exist, making it possible for many jurisdictions to develop or update their water quality criteria or guidelines. The understanding of the fate of metals in the environment has undergone significant scrutiny over the past 20 years. Transport and toxicity models have evolved including the Unit World Model allowing for estimation of concentrations of metals in various compartments as a function of loading and time. There has been significant focus on the transformation of metals in sediments into forms that are less bioavailable and on understanding conditions that result in resolubilization or redistribution of metals in and from sediments. Methods for spiking sediments have advanced such that the resulting chemistry in the laboratory mimics that in natural systems. Sediment bioavailability models are emerging including models that allow for prediction of toxicity in sediments for copper and nickel. Biodynamic models have been developed for several organisms and many metals. The models allow for estimates of transport of metals from sediments to organisms via their diet as well as their water exposure. All these advances expand the tool set available to risk assessors. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:924-951. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Selenium-mercury interactions and relationship to aquatic toxicity: A review

A review of the literature pertaining to selenium-mercury (Se/Hg) interactions in aquatic species was performed to provide insight into the mechanisms allowing for the reported changes in bioaccumulation and toxicity that have been observed when the two elements occur at elevated concentrations. Selenium (Se) has been shown to protect against mercury (Hg) toxicity in all animal models evaluated (fish, birds, mammals, and plants). To explore the interaction between the two elements, data are presented on concentrations of both elements in wild-caught fish at numerous locations. The data show that most fish have Se/Hg ratios >1.0. The importance of this ratio has been reported, with suggestions that the protective interaction is due in large part to the formation of HgSe. Data show that when the Se/Hg molar ratio is <1.0 in the diet of fish and animals, Hg toxicity will be expressed, provided that the Hg concentration is sufficiently high. This toxicity is likely the result of Se deficiency leading to an excess of reactive oxygen species. Laboratory fish toxicity studies reviewed show that Se toxicity can be reduced or eliminated when Hg is added to the diet in moderate amounts. Field studies have shown reduced accumulation of Hg when Se concentrations are increased. When Hg in the diet is significantly elevated (usually >10 µg/g), toxicity is expressed regardless of the Se present. Likewise, amelioration of Se toxicity by Hg occurs over a limited range. Tissue thresholds for Se toxicity have been derived primarily from studies where fish eggs were extracted from wild fish and embryo deformities were observed; however, the amount of Hg in the fish or ovaries was not considered, which could lead to uncertainty in the toxicity threshold. It is recommended that both elements be measured and evaluated when performing risk assessments and setting water quality criteria. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;00:1-11. © 2024 SETAC.

Predicting the Metal Mixture Toxicity with a Toxicokinetic-Toxicodynamic Model Considering the Time-Dependent Adverse Outcome Pathways

Chemicals mainly exist in ecosystems as mixtures, and understanding and predicting their effects are major challenges in ecotoxicology. While the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) and toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TK-TD) models show promise as mechanistic approaches in chemical risk assessment, there is still a lack of methodology to incorporate the AOP into a TK-TD model. Here, we describe a novel approach that integrates the AOP and TK-TD models to predict mixture toxicity using metal mixtures (specifically Cd-Cu) as a case study. We preliminarily constructed an AOP of the metal mixture through temporal transcriptome analysis together with confirmatory bioassays. The AOP revealed that prolonged exposure time activated more key events and adverse outcomes, indicating different modes of action over time. We selected a potential key event as a proxy for damage and used it as a measurable parameter to replace the theoretical parameter (scaled damage) in the TK-TD model. This refined model, which connects molecular responses to organism outcomes, effectively predicts Cd-Cu mixture toxicity over time and can be extended to other metal mixtures and even multicomponent mixtures. Overall, our results contribute to a better understanding of metal mixture toxicity and provide insights for integrating the AOP and TK-TD models to improve risk assessment for chemical mixtures.

Comparative subchronic toxicity of copper and a tertiary copper mixture to early life stage rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): impacts on growth, development, and histopathology

This research aimed to characterize and compare the subchronic impacts of Cu to a Cu, Cd, and Zn mixture in early life stages of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by examining uptake, survival, growth, development, and histopathology parameters. To accomplish this, rainbow trout were exposed for 31 days from eyed embryos to the swim-up fry life stage to waterborne Cu (31, 47, 70, and 104 μg/L) individually or as mixture containing Cd (4.1, 6.2, 9.3, and 14 μg/L) and Zn (385, 578, 867, and 1300 μg/L). Exposures elicited pronounced effects on survival when Cu was administered as a mixture (LC25 = 32.9 μg/L Cu) versus individually (LC25 = 46.3 μg/L Cu). Mixtures of Cu, Cd, and Zn also elicited more pronounced sublethal toxicity relative to equivalent Cu treatments with respect to reduced yolk sac resorption and increased incidence and/or severity of gill, liver, and kidney lesions. Our findings of reduced body weight (EC10, Cu = 55.0 μg/L Cu; EC10, Cu+Cd+Zn = 58.9 μg/L Cu), yolk sac resorption (LOECCu = 70 μg/L Cu; LOECCu+Cd+Zn = 70 μg/L Cu), coelomic fat (LOECCu = 47 μg/L Cu; LOECCu+Cd+Zn = 70 μg/L Cu), and increased hepatocellular cytoplasmic vacuolation (LOECCu = 70 μg/L Cu; LOECCu+Cd+Zn = 47 μg/L Cu) collectively indicate a complicated metabolic interference by metals in exposed fish. These lethal and sublethal effects observed in the laboratory could translate to reduced survival and fitness of wild salmonid populations inhabiting waterbodies receiving wastewater or runoff containing multiple metals at elevated concentrations.

Copper and cadmium, isolated and in the mixture, impact the Neotropical freshwater Calanoida copepod Notodiaptomus iheringi: A short-term approach with environmental concentrations

Metal discharges in aquatic ecosystems are of concern since they affect different trophic levels, altering the functioning of the aquatic food chain. The metals can interact among them and with other pollutants, resulting in complex mixtures whose effects on biota are unpredictable. The impacts of copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd), isolated and combined, on the freshwater copepod Notodiaptomus iheringi were assessed in acute and sub-chronic exposures. Species sensitivity distribution (SSD) curves were constructed for both metals. In the acute tests antagonism was observed in mortality, while in sub-chronic, mortality was not affected; however, the eggs produced and percentage of viable eggs were significantly altered. Our data suggest that egg production can be a detoxification route in N. iheringi under Cu and mixture exposure. From the SSD curves, N. iheringi was the most sensitive Brazilian species for Cu and the second most sensitive for Cd.

Impact of "chemical cocktails" exposure in shaping mice gut microbiota and the role of selenium supplementation combining metallomics, metabolomics, and metataxonomics

Biological systems are exposed to a complex environment in which pollutants can interact through synergistic or antagonistic mechanisms, but limited information is available on the combined effects. To this end, conventional and antibiotic-treated (Abx) mice models were fed regular rodent or selenium (Se) supplemented diets and exposed to a "chemical cocktail" (CC) including metals and pharmaceuticals. Metallomics, metabolomics, and metataxomics were combined to delve into the impact on gut microbiota, plasma selenoproteome, metabolome, and arsenic metabolization. At the molecular level, Se decreased the concentration of the antioxidant glutathione peroxidase in plasma and increased the arsenic methylation rate, possibly favoring its excretion, but not in the Abx and also plasma metabolomes of Abx, and Abx-Se were not differentiated. Moreover, numerous associations were obtained between plasma selenoproteins and gut microbes. Se-supplementation partially antagonizes the gut microbiota alteration caused by Abx, and slightly by CC, but strongly altered profiles were observed in CC-Abx-Se, suggesting synergistic deleterious effects between pollutants, Abx and Se. Moreover, although CC and Abx changed gut microbiota, several common taxa were enriched in CC-Abx and control mice, indicating possible synergistic effects. Our results suggest a potential beneficial impact of supplementation, but mediated by gut microbes being reversed in their absence.

Swimming behaviour in two ecologically similar three-spined (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) and nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius L.): a comparative approach for modelling the toxicity of metal mixtures

Sticklebacks (Gasterosteiformes) are increasingly used in ecological and evolutionary research and have become well established as role model species for biologists. However, ecotoxicology studies concerning behavioural effects in sticklebacks regarding stress responses, mainly induced by chemical mixtures, have hardly been addressed. For this purpose, we investigated the swimming behaviour (including mortality rate based on 96-h LC₅₀ values) of two ecologically similar three-spined (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) to short-term (up to 24 h) metal mixture (MIX) exposure. We evaluated the relevance and efficacy of behavioural responses of test species in the early toxicity assessment of chemical mixtures. Fish exposed to six (Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni, and Cr) metals in the mixture were either singled out by the Water Framework Directive as priority or as relevant substances in surface water, which was prepared according to the environmental quality standards (EQSs) of these metals set for inland waters in the European Union (EU) (Directive 2013/39/EU). The performed behavioural analysis showed the main effect on the interaction between time, species, and treatment variables. Although both species exposed to MIX revealed a decreasing tendency in swimming activity, these species' responsiveness to MIX was somewhat different. Substantial changes in the activity of G. aculeatus were established after a 3-h exposure to MIX solutions, which was 1.43-fold lower, while in the case of P. pungitius, 1.96-fold higher than established 96-h LC₅₀ values for each species. This study demonstrated species-specific differences in response sensitivity to metal-based water pollution, indicating behavioural insensitivity of P. pungitius as model species for aquatic biomonitoring and environmental risk assessments.

Assessing the Toxicity of Mine-Water Mixtures and the Effectiveness of Water Quality Guideline Values in Protecting Local Aquatic Species

Six tropical freshwater species were used to assess the toxicity of mine waters from a uranium mine adjacent to a World Heritage area in northern Australia. Key contaminants of potential concern for the mine were U, Mg, Mn, and total ammonia nitrogen (TAN). Direct toxicity assessments were carried out to assess whether the established site-specific guideline values for individual contaminants would be protective with the contaminants occurring as mixtures. Metal speciation was calculated for contaminants to determine which were the major contributors of toxicity, with 84 to 96% of Mg predicted in the free-ion form as Mg²⁺ , and 76 to 92% of Mn predicted as Mn²⁺ . Uranium, Al, and Cu were predicted to be strongly bound to fulvic acid. Uranium, Mg, Mn, and Cu were incorporated into concentration addition or independent action mixture toxicity models to compare the observed toxicity in each of the waters with predicted toxicity. For >90% of the data, mine-water toxicity was less than predicted by the concentration addition model. Instances where toxicity was greater than predicted were accompanied by exceedances of individual metal guideline values in all but one case (i.e., a Mg concentration within 10% of the guideline value). This indicates that existing individual water quality guideline values for U, Mg, Mn, and TAN would adequately protect ecosystems downstream of the mine. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:2334-2346. © 2021 Commonwealth of Australia. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry © 2021 SETAC.

A review of the impact of xenobiotics from dietary sources on infant health: Early life exposures and the role of the microbiota

Xenobiotics are worldwide distributed and humans are unavoidably exposed to multiple chemical compounds during life, from preconception to adulthood. The human microbiota is mainly settled during early life and modulate host health and fitness. One of the main routes for chemical exposure is by intake of contaminated food and water. Thus, the interplay between diet-xenobiotics-microbiota during pregnancy and perinatal period may have relevant consequences for infant and adult health. Maternal exposure to metal(oid)s, persistent organic pollutants, and some food additives can modify the infant's microbiota with unknown consequences for child or adult health. Toxicants' exposure may also modulate the maternal transfer of microorganisms to the progeny during birth and breastfeeding; however, scarce information is available. The rapid increase in releasing novel chemicals to the environment, the exposure to chemical mixtures, the chronic/low dose scenario, and the delay in science-stakeholders action call for novel and groundbreaking approaches to improve a comprehensive risk assessment in sensitive population groups like pregnant women and neonates, with emphasis on microbiota as modulating factor and target-organ of xenobiotic's toxicity.

Influence of environmentally relevant concentrations of Zn, Cd and Ni and their binary mixtures on metal uptake, bioaccumulation and development in larvae of the purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

Metal accumulation, disturbance of Ca²⁺ homeostasis, and occurrence of abnormalities are well-established consequences of single metal exposure during early development stages of sea urchins. However, the effects caused by low concentrations of metals and metal mixtures need to be better understood in marine invertebrates. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of Zn (9 μg/L), Cd (30 μg/L) and Ni (5 μg/L) in single and binary exposures (Zn + Cd, Cd + Ni and Ni + Zn) to the early life stages of the purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Endpoints checked in all treatments after 48-h exposure were unidirectional metal influx rates, bioaccumulation, and Ca²⁺ influx rates. Additionally, the presence of abnormal larvae and developmental delay was evaluated at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h of exposure. Unidirectional influx rates of all three metals were significantly higher than control background rates in all single exposures and binary mixtures, and were generally not different between them. Net accumulation (body burden) of both Zn and Cd increased significantly as a result of their respective single exposures, while Ni accumulation decreased considerably. When Zn or Cd were presented in binary exposures with other metals, the net accumulations of Zn or Cd were reduced relative to single exposures to these metals, whereas this did not occur for Ni accumulation. Thus, bioaccumulation proved to be a better metric than influx rate measurements to analyze metal competition at a whole organism level at these low metal concentrations. Short-term Ca²⁺ influx also did not appear to be a sensitive metric, as the measured rates did not vary among all single and binary exposures, with the exception of a lower rate in Ni + Zn binary exposure. A critical aspect observed was the relationship between bioaccumulation versus influx measurements, which proved positive for Cd, but negative for Zn and Ni, demonstrating possible capacities for both Zn and Ni regulation by sea urchin larvae. Increases in larval abnormalities relative to controls occurred only after binary mixtures, starting at 48 h exposure and maintained until 72 h. However, delay of the sea urchin development by the presence of gastrula stage at 72 h exposure occurred in Zn and Ni single exposures and all metal mixtures, with very high abnormal development when Ni was present.

Time-dependent accumulation of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, and Zn in natural communities of mayfly and caddisfly larvae: Metal sensitivity, uptake pathways, and mixture toxicity

Conceptual and quantitative models were developed to assess time-dependent processes in four sequential experimental stream studies that determined abundances of natural communities of mayfly and caddisfly larvae dosed with single metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Zn) or multiple metals (Cd + Zn, Co + Cu, Cu + Ni, Cu + Zn, Ni + Zn, Cd + Cu + Zn, Co + Cu + Ni, Cu + Ni + Zn). Metal mixtures contained environmentally relevant metal ratios found in mine drainage. Free metal ion concentrations, accumulation of metals by periphyton, and metal uptake by four families of aquatic insect larvae were either measured (Brachycentridae) or predicted (Ephemerellidae, Heptageniidae, Hydropsychidae) using equilibrium and biodynamic models. Toxicity functions, which included metal accumulations by larvae and metal potencies, were linked to abundances of the insect families. Model results indicated that mayflies accumulated more metal than caddisflies and the relative importance of metal uptake by larvae via dissolved or dietary pathways highly depended on metal uptake rate constants for each insect family and concentrations of metals in food and water. For solution compositions in the experimental streams, accumulations of Cd, Cu, and Zn in larvae occurred primarily through dietary uptake, whereas uptake of dissolved metal was more important for Co and Ni accumulations. Cd, Cu, and Ni were major contributors to toxicity in metal mixtures and for metal ratios examined. Our conceptual approach and quantitative results should aid in designing laboratory experiments and field studies that evaluate metal uptake pathways and metal mixture toxicity to aquatic biota.

Bioaccumulation kinetics of cadmium and zinc in the freshwater decapod crustacean Paratya australiensis following multiple pulse exposures

Stormwater runoff has been identified as a major source of metal contaminants in urban waterways, where during storm events organisms tend to be exposed to short-term pulses, rather than a constant exposure of contaminants. Current water quality guidelines (WQGs) are generally derived using data from continuous exposure toxicity tests, where there is an assumption that chronic exposures provide a meaningful way of assessing the impacts and effects in organisms as a result of these pulsed storm events. In this current study the radioisotopes ¹⁰⁹Cd and ⁶⁵Zn were used to explore uptake, depuration and organ distribution in the decapod crustacean Paratya australiensis, over three short-term (<10 h) exposures. Exposures to radiolabelled cadmium only, zinc only or a mixture of cadmium and zinc were followed by depuration in metal- and isotope-free water for 7 days. Whole-body metal concentrations were determined by live-animal gamma-spectrometry and an anatomical distribution of the radioisotopes was visualised using autoradiography post-mortem. Both metals were significantly accumulated over the pulsed exposure period. In both treatments cadmium and zinc body burden increased at the same rate over the three pulses. Final metal body burden did not markedly differ when shrimp were exposed to metals individually compared to a binary mixture. Over the course of the depuration period, cadmium efflux was minimal, whereas zinc efflux was significant. Autoradiography indicated the presence of both metals in the gills and hepatopancreas throughout the depuration period. These results demonstrate how short-term repeated exposures result in the accumulation of contaminants by shrimp. This study highlights the importance of considering the inclusion of pulsed toxicity tests in frameworks when deriving WQGs.

Much ado about interaction: A combination of linear processes yields non-linear toxic effects in chemical mixtures

Predicting chemical mixture toxicity is an important issue for risk assessment. Loewe's concentration addition (CA) is a major model for predicting such toxicity. The CA is an additivity-based model, and if the results of toxicity test deviate from the CA prediction, it is considered that the toxic effect of the mixture is non-additive, and that "interaction" has played some role. In the present study, using as an example a biotic ligand model (BLM), which predicts metal toxicities, we theoretically investigated the toxic effect of mixture and found that the effects are almost always non-additive if the effects are evaluated by total metal concentrations, and the non-additivity is not derived by interactions among metals but by a combination of processes of metal kinetics. Once non-additive effects are observed in chemical mixture, it is often expected that there should be some complex toxic mechanisms or some toxic interaction. Our results suggest that the expectation may not be always true. Since at least two processes are entrained in the metal toxicity (metal speciation and binding of metals to biotic ligand in BLM framework), there is a possibility that the non-additivity is generated by the combination of processes and interaction is nothing to do with it. Our results imply that toxic effects of metal mixture can be predicted more easily than we generally expected.

Using the Biotic Ligand Model framework to investigate binary metal interactions on the uptake of Ag, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis

There is growing interest in the development of mechanistically-based models, such as the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM), for assessing the environmental risk of metal mixtures. However, the derivation of such models requires insights into the mechanisms of multimetal interactions that are often lacking for aquatic organisms. In the present study, we investigated how binary mixtures of six metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) interact for uptake in the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, a freshwater species particularly sensitive to metals in chronic exposure. For each metal, short-term (2-3 h) uptake experiments on juvenile snails were performed with the metal alone and in combination with a second metal, at concentrations encompassing the chronic toxicity concentration range. These experiments showed significant binary metal interactions for 7 out of 15 mixtures. Most interactions were inhibitory in nature, not reciprocal and caused by either Ag or Cu. They led to relative changes of uptake that did not exceed 50% within the range of metal chronic toxicity. The BLM proved to be successful at explaining most of the interactions, via competitive inhibition. This study is in support of using bioavailability-based models, such as the BLM, to model metal mixture interactions in L. stagnalis.

Preface: Special Issue on Environmental Toxicology of Trace Metals

Trace metals (TMs) have a central role in the functioning of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. [...]

Heavy Metal Mixture Exposure and Effects in Developing Nations: An Update

The drive for development and modernization has come at great cost. Various human activities in developed and developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have given rise to environmental safety concerns. Increased artisanal mining activities, illegal refining, use of leaded petrol, airborne dust, arbitrary discarding and burning of toxic waste, absorption of production industries in inhabited areas, inadequate environmental legislation, and weak implementation of policies, have given rise to the incomparable contamination and pollution associated with heavy metals in recent decades. This review evaluates the public health effects of heavy metals and their mixtures in SSA. This shows the extent and size of the problem posed by exposure to heavy metal mixtures in regard to public health.

Potential Toxicity of Dissolved Metal Mixtures (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) to Early Life Stage White Sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus) in the Upper Columbia River, Washington, United States

The Upper Columbia River (UCR) received historical releases of smelter waste resulting in elevated metal concentrations in downstream sediments. Newly hatched white sturgeon hide within the rocky substrate at the sediment-water interface in the UCR for a few weeks before swim-up. Hiding behavior could expose them to metal contaminants, and metal toxicity could contribute to population declines in white sturgeon over the past 50 years. This study evaluates whether there is a link between the toxicity of dissolved metals across the sediment-water interface in the UCR and the survival of early life stage (ELS) white sturgeon. Toxicity of dissolved metal mixtures is evaluated using a combination of previously collected laboratory and field data and recently developed metal mixture toxicity models. The laboratory data consist of individual metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) toxicity studies with ELS white sturgeon. The field data include the chemical composition of surface and pore water samples that were collected across the sediment-water interface in the UCR. These data are used in three metal accumulation and two response models. All models predict low toxicity in surface water, whereas effects concentrations greater than 20% are predicted for 60-72% of shallow pore water samples. The flux of dissolved metals, particularly Cu, from shallow pore water to surface water likely exposes prime ELS sturgeon habitat to toxic conditions.

Chronic Toxicity of Binary Mixtures of Six Metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) to the Great Pond Snail Lymnaea stagnalis

Although metal-mixture toxicity has recently received increasing attention, there is still insufficient knowledge on joint effects occurring in chronic exposures to relatively low metal concentrations. We characterized the chronic toxicity of binary mixtures of six metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in 14 day growth tests with juveniles of the metal-sensitive freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Observations were compared with predictions from individual metals and from the two most frequently used mixture models: concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA). Predictions based on measured total dissolved concentrations and on calculated free-ion activities did not differ greatly because multimetal geochemical interactions in the tests were limited. In around half of the tests, mixture toxicity was higher than the greatest effect caused by the individual metals, arguing in favor of considering joint effects. When the additive models were used, the great majority of interactions were either additive or less than additive (i.e., antagonism). In general, the IA model was the most accurate, while the CA model was the most conservative. Along with other studies, these findings suggest that, at least for binary combinations, the simple CA model may provide satisfactory protection from the chronic metal toxicity of metal mixtures to aquatic organisms.

Development of multi-metal interaction model for Daphnia magna: Significance of metallothionein in cellular redistribution

Despite the great progress made in metal-induced toxicity mechanisms, a critical knowledge gap still exists in predicting adverse effects of heavy metals on living organisms in the natural environment, particularly during exposure to multi-metals. In this study, a multi-metal interaction model of Daphnia manga was developed in an effort to provide reasonable explanations regarding the joint effects resulting from exposure to multi-metals. Metallothionein (MT), a widely used biomarker, was selected. In this model, MT was supposed to play the role of a crucial transfer protein rather than detoxifying protein. Therefore, competitive complexation of metals to MT could highly affect the cellular metal redistribution. Thus, competitive complexation of MT in D. magna with metals like Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Cu²⁺ was qualitatively studied. The results suggested that Cd²⁺ had the highest affinity towards MT, followed by Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺. On the other hand, the combination of MT with Cu²⁺ appeared to alter its structure which resulted in higher affinity towards Pb²⁺. Overall, the predicted bioaccumulation of metals under multi-metal exposure was consisted with earlier reported studies. This model provided an alternative angle for joint effect through a combination of kinetic process and internal interactions, which could help to develop future models predicting toxicity to multi-metal exposure.

Quantifying the interactions among metal mixtures in toxicodynamic process with generalized linear model

Predicting the toxicity of chemical mixtures is difficult because of the additive, antagonistic, or synergistic interactions among the mixture components. Antagonistic and synergistic interactions are dominant in metal mixtures, and their distributions may correlate with exposure concentrations. However, whether the interaction types of metal mixtures change at different time points during toxicodynamic (TD) processes is undetermined because of insufficient appropriate models and metal bioaccumulation data at different time points. In the present study, the generalized linear model (GLM) was used to illustrate the combined toxicities of binary metal mixtures, such as Cu-Zn, Cu-Cd, and Cd-Pb, to zebrafish larvae (Danio rerio). GLM was also used to identify possible interaction types among these method for the traditional concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) models. Then the GLM were applied to quantify the different possible interaction types for metal mixture toxicity (Cu-Zn, Cu-Cd, and Cd-Pb to D. rerio and Ni-Co to Oligochaeta Enchytraeus crypticus) during the TD process at different exposure times. We found different metal interaction responses in the TD process and interactive coefficients significantly changed at different exposure times (p<0.05), which indicated that the interaction types among Cu-Zn, Cu-Cd, Cd-Pb and Ni-Co were time dependent. Our analysis highlighted the importance of considering joint actions in the TD process to understand and predict metal mixture toxicology on organisms. Moreover, care should be taken when evaluating interactions in toxicity prediction because results may vary at different time points. The GLM could be an alternative or complementary approach for BLM to analyze and predict metal mixture toxicity.

Assessing bioavailability of complex chemical mixtures in contaminated soils: Progress made and research needs

Understanding the distribution, behaviour and interactions of complex chemical mixtures is key for providing the evidence necessary to make informed decisions and implement robust remediation strategies. Much of the current risk assessment frameworks applied to manage land contamination are based on total contaminant concentrations and the exposure assessments embedded within them do not explicitly address the partitioning and bioavailability of chemical mixtures. These oversights may contribute to an overestimation of both the eco-toxicological effects of the fractions and the mobility of contaminants. In turn, this may limit the efficacy of risk frameworks to inform targeted and proportionate remediation strategies. In this review we analyse the science surrounding bioavailability, its regulatory inclusion and the challenges of incorporating bioavailability in decision making process. While a number of physical and chemical techniques have proven to be valuable tools for estimating bioavailability of organic and inorganic contaminants in soils, doubts have been cast on its implementation into risk management soil frameworks mainly due to a general disagreement on the interchangeable use of bioavailability and bioaccessibility, and the associated methods which are still not standardised. This review focuses on the role of biotic and abiotic factors affecting bioavailability along with soil physicochemical properties and contaminant composition. We also included advantages and disadvantages of different extraction techniques and their implications for bioavailability quantitative estimation. In order to move forward the integration of bioavailability into site-specific risk assessments we should (1) account for soil and contaminant physicochemical characteristics and their effect on bioavailability; (2) evaluate receptor's potential exposure and uptake based on mild-extraction; (3) adopt a combined approach where chemical-techniques are used along with biological methods; (4) consider a simplified and cost-effective methodology to apply at regulatory and industry setting; (5) use single-contaminant exposure assessments to inform and predict complex chemical mixture behaviour and bioavailability.

Breaking from tradition: establishing more realistic sediment quality guidelines

Sediment quality guidelines vary wildly across nations. The approaches to derive these guidelines range from crude percentile rankings of total concentrations of single chemicals to theoretical approaches that are driven by biological available effect levels. This results in a range of orders of magnitude for "safe" or threshold levels by chemical. Even the more scientifically advanced approaches using theoretical approaches are problematic in that they do not consider chemical mixtures, alternate routes of exposure, and other ligands that limit bioavailability. In the end, all that matters is that desirable resident biota are protected and with no significant ecological impacts. Complicating this determination is the role of habitat, flow, sedimentation, and nutrients-all of which are common in human-dominated waterways. A possible effective way forward is to consider the common, relevant stressors that may influence biotic communities associated with sediments. This approach would consider relevant sensitive species in terms of their ecological context and dominant exposure pathway (considering habitat, overlying water, sediment, periphyton, and hyporheos). In addition, the sum of water column (and pore water) and sediment probable effect concentration vs probable no effect concentrations ratios would be summed and considered for mixtures. Since this non-scientific mixture effect assessment may be overly conservative, in situ caged toxicity tests with benthic and water column organisms exposed to sediments, pore waters, and overlying water would be conducted for field validations along with comparisons of indigenous biota to BioCriteria.

Mixtures of Cu, Ni, and Zn act mostly noninteractively on Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata growth in natural waters

Freshwater biota are usually exposed to mixtures of different metals in the environment, which raises concern because risk-assessment procedures for metals are still mainly based on single-metal toxicity. Because microalgae are primary producers and therefore at the base of the food web, it is of utmost importance to understand the effects of metal mixtures on these organisms. Most studies that have investigated the combined interactive effects of mixtures on microalgae performed tests in only one specific water. The objective of the present study was to test if combined effects of mixtures to Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata were the same or different across natural waters showing diverse water-chemistry characteristics. This was done by performing experiments with ternary Cu-Ni-Zn mixtures in 3 natural waters and with binary Cu-Ni mixtures in 5 natural waters. We showed that the ternary mixture acted noninteractively on algal growth, except in one water in which the mixture acted antagonistically. We suggest that a low-cationic competition situation in the latter water could be the reason for the antagonistic interaction between the metals. On the other hand, the binary mixture acted noninteractively on algal growth in all tested waters. We showed that both the concentration addition and independent action models can serve as accurate models for toxicity of ternary Cu-Ni-Zn and binary Cu-Ni mixtures to P. subcapitata in most cases and as protective models in all cases. In addition, we developed a metal mixture bioavailability model, by combining the independent action model and the single-metal bioavailability models, that can be used to predict Cu-Ni-Zn and Cu-Ni toxicity to P. subcapitata as a function of metal concentration and water characteristics. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:587-598. © 2017 SETAC.

Behavioural and biochemical responses to metals tested alone or in mixture (Cd-Cu-Ni-Pb-Zn) in Gammarus fossarum: From a multi-biomarker approach to modelling metal mixture toxicity

Metals are usually present as mixtures at low concentrations in aquatic ecosystems. However, the toxicity and sub-lethal effects of metal mixtures on organisms are still poorly addressed in environmental risk assessment. Here we investigated the biochemical and behavioural responses of Gammarus fossarum to Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn tested individually or in mixture (M2X) at concentrations twice the levels of environmental quality standards (EQSs) from the European Water Framework Directive. The same metal mixture was also tested with concentrations equivalent to EQSs (M1X), thus in a regulatory context, as EQSs are proposed to protect aquatic biota. For each exposure condition, mortality, locomotion, respiration and enzymatic activities involved in digestive metabolism and moult were monitored over a 120h exposure period. Multi-metric variations were summarized by the integrated biomarker response index (IBR). Mono-metallic exposures shed light on biological alterations occurring at environmental exposure levels in gammarids and depending on the considered metal and gender. As regards mixtures, biomarkers were altered for both M2X and M1X. However, no additive or synergistic effect of metals was observed comparing to mono-metallic exposures. Indeed, bioaccumulation data highlighted competitive interactions between metals in M2X, decreasing subsequently their internalisation and toxicity. IBR values indicated that the health of gammarids was more impacted by M1X than M2X, because of reduced competitions and enhanced uptakes of metals for the mixture at lower, EQS-like concentrations. Models using bioconcentration data obtained from mono-metallic exposures generated successful predictions of global toxicity both for M1X and M2X. We conclude that sub-lethal effects of mixtures identified by the multi-biomarker approach can lead to disturbances in population dynamics of gammarids. Although IBR-based models offer promising lines of enquiry to predict metal mixture toxicity, further studies are needed to confirm their predictive quality on larger ranges of metallic combinations before their use in field conditions.

Characterization of the effects of binary metal mixtures on short-term uptake of Cd, Pb, and Zn by rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Biotic Ligand Models (BLMs) for individual metals improve our ability to regulate metals in the aquatic environment by considering the effects of water quality parameters (ionic composition, pH, DOC) on metal bioavailability. However, in natural aquatic systems, organisms are often simultaneously exposed to multiple metals and these interactions are not currently considered in BLMs or most environmental regulations. Recently, several different mixture BLMs (mBLMs) have been developed to begin assessing this issue. Some of these models assume competitive interactions between all metals, while others assume only metals with similar modes of action (e.g., Na⁺ or Ca²⁺ antagonists) will competitively interact. In this study, we used standard in vivo 3-h gill metal binding assays to characterize the uptake of Cd, Pb, and Zn individually and in binary mixtures with Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn across a range of concentrations that encompassed the 96-h LC50 for each metal. Inhibition of Cd, Pb, and Zn uptake at the gill by introduction of a second metal was consistent with mode of action in some cases, but not others. Further, contrary to expectations, inhibition was always either non-competitive or could not be defined statistically. We also observed one example of stimulated metal uptake (Ni stimulated Zn uptake). Consistent with our previous experiments on Ag, Cu, and Ni, these studies suggest that current mBLM frameworks will need revision to better reflect the mechanisms underlying metal mixture interactions.

Validation of site-specific soil Ni toxicity thresholds with independent ecotoxicity and biogeochemistry data for elevated soil Ni

The Existing Substances Regulation Risk Assessments by the European Union (EU RA) generated new toxicity data for soil organisms exposed to Ni added to sixteen field-collected soils with low background concentration of metals and varying physico-chemical soil characteristics. Using only effective cation exchange capacity (eCEC) as a bioavailability correction, chronic toxicity of Ni in soils with a wide range of characteristics could be predicted within a factor of two. The objective of the present study was to determine whether this was also the case for three independent data sets of Ni toxicity thresholds. Two of the data sets were from Community Based Risk Assessments in Port Colborne ON, and Sudbury ON (Canada) for soils containing elevated concentrations of Ni, Co and Cu arising from many decades of Ni mining, smelting and refining. The third data set was the Metals in Asia study of soluble Ni added to field soils in China. These data yielded 72 leached and aged EC₁₀/NOEC values for soil Ni, for arthropods, higher plants and woodlot structure and function. These were reduced to nine most sensitive single or geometric mean species/function endpoints, none of which were lower than the HC₅ predicted for a soil with an eCEC of 20 cmol/kg. Most of these leached and aged EC₁₀/NOEC values were from soils co-contaminated with Cu, in some cases at its median HC₅ as predicted by the EU RA from soil characteristics. We conclude that the EU RA is protective of Ni toxicity to higher-tier ecological endpoints, including in mixture with Cu, before the assessment factor of 2 is applied. We suggest that for prospective risk assessment, the bioavailability based PNEC (HC₅/2) be used as a conservative screen, but for retrospective and site-specific risk assessment, the bioavailability based HC₅ is sufficient.

Zinc-arsenic interactions in soil: Solubility, toxicity and uptake

Arsenic (As) and zinc (Zn) are common co-contaminants in mining impacted soils. Their interaction on solubility and toxicity when present concurrently is not well understood in natural systems. The aim of this study was to observe their interaction in solubility (soil-solution), bioaccumulation (shoot uptake) and toxicity to cucumber (Cucumis sativa L) conducting 4 weeks pot study in 5 different soils spiked with As (0, 2, 4, 8 to 1024 mg kg^-1) individually and with Zn at two phytotoxic doses. The As pore-water concentration was significantly reduced (df = 289, Adjusted R² = 0.84, p < 0.01) in the presence of Zn in the whole dataset, whereas Zn and Zn²⁺ activity in pore-water was reduced significantly only in the two alkaline soils. This outcome may be due to adsorption/surface precipitation or tertiary bridging complexation. No homogenous precipitation of zinc arsenate could be established using electron microscopy, XRD or even equilibrium calculations. For bioaccumulation phase, no significant effect of Zn on As uptake was observed except acidic MG soil whereas, Zn uptake was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) by As in whole dataset. However, an additive response was observed mostly except acidic MG soil. The synergistic response (more than additive) was predominant in this soil for a wide range of inhibition concentration (0-80%) at both Zn EC10 and EC50 levels. Since additive response is mostly considered in risk assessment for mixtures, precautions should be implemented for assessment of toxicity for As-Zn mixture in acidic soil due to their synergistic response in some soils.

Systematic Evaluation of Chronic Metal-Mixture Toxicity to Three Species and Implications for Risk Assessment

Metal contamination generally occurs as mixtures. However, it is yet unresolved how to address metal mixtures in risk assessment. Therefore, using consistent methodologies, we have set up experiments to identify which mixture model applies best at low-level effects, i.e., the independent action (IA) or concentration addition (CA) reference model. The toxicity of metal mixtures (Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Pb) to Daphnia magna, Ceriodaphnia dubia, and Hordeum vulgare was investigated in different waters or soils, totaling 30 different experiments. Some mixtures of different metals, each individually causing <10% inhibition, yielded much larger inhibition (up to 66%) when dosed in combination. In general, IA was most accurate in predicting mixture toxicity, while CA was the most conservative. At low-effect levels important in risk assessments, CA overestimated mixture toxicity to daphnids and H. vulgare, on average, with a factor 1.4 to 3.6. Observed mixture interactions could be related to bioavailability or by competition interactions, either for binding sites of dissolved organic carbon or for biotic ligand sites. Our study suggests that the current metal-by-metal approach in risk evaluations may not be conservative enough for metal mixtures.

Comparison of chronic mixture toxicity of nickel-zinc-copper and nickel-zinc-copper-cadmium mixtures between Ceriodaphnia dubia and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata

Although aquatic organisms in the environment are exposed to mixtures of metals, risk assessment for metals is most commonly performed on a metal-by-metal basis. To increase the knowledge about chronic mixture effects, the authors investigated whether metal mixture effects are dependent on the biological species, mixture composition, and metal concentration ratio. The authors evaluated the effects of quaternary Ni-Zn-Cu-Cd and ternary Ni-Zn-Cu mixtures on 48-h algal growth rate (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata) and 7-d daphnid reproduction (Ceriodaphnia dubia) using a ray design. Single metals were 3-fold to 42-fold more toxic for C. dubia than for P. subcapitata, based on the 50% effective concentration expressed as free metal activity, the range representing different metals. Statistical analysis of mixture effects showed that the ternary and quaternary mixture effects were antagonistic on algal growth relative to the concentration addition (CA) model, when the analysis was based on dissolved concentrations and on free metal ion activities. Using the independent action (IA) model, mixture effects in both rays were statistically noninteractive for algal growth when the analysis was based on dissolved concentrations; however, the interactions shifted toward antagonism when based on free ion activities. The ternary Ni-Zn-Cu mixture acted antagonistically on daphnid reproduction relative to both reference models, either expressed as free ion activities or dissolved concentrations. When Cd was added to the mixture, however, the mixture effects shifted toward noninteractivity for daphnids. The metal concentration ratio did not significantly influence the magnitude of observed antagonistic effects. Regardless of statistical interactions observed, based on the present study, CA and in most instances also IA can serve as a protective model for ternary Ni-Zn-Cu and quaternary Ni-Zn-Cu-Cd toxicity to both species. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1056-1066. © 2016 SETAC.

A multi-metal risk assessment strategy for natural freshwater ecosystems based on the additive inhibitory free metal ion concentration index

Scientifically sound risk assessment strategies and derivations of environmental quality standards for metals present in freshwater environments are currently hampered by insufficient chronic toxicity data collected from natural ecosystems, as well as inadequate information on metal speciation. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of freshwater containing multiple metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) on the chronic toxicity (72h) to the alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and compare the observed toxicity results to the total and free metal concentration of the samples. Based on the information obtained herein, an additive inhibitory free multi-metal ion concentration index, calculated as the sum of the equivalent toxicities to the free metal ion concentration of each sample, was developed. The proposed index was well correlated to the observed chronic toxicity results, indicating that the concentration addition, when expressed as the free-ion activity, can be considered a reliable indicator for the evaluation of ecological risk assessments for natural waters containing multiple metals.

Modernizing Water Quality Criteria in the United States: A Need to Expand the Definition of Acceptable Data

The development of water quality criteria (WQC) for the protection of aquatic life is a fundamental component of the Clean Water Act-the primary US legislation responsible for protecting aquatic ecosystems from pollution. Water quality criteria define acceptable levels of contamination in the environment and thus play an important role in society. Rules for how science is used to develop WQC were created in 1985. Most rely on only data and knowledge obtained through a single methodology, the single-species laboratory toxicity test. Since 1985, understanding of the fate and effects of environmental contaminants has advanced markedly from multiple perspectives and disciplines. However, many of these advances are routinely discarded in WQC development because they do not adhere to data limits imposed by the 1985 guidelines. The present Focus article outlines how multiple lines of inquiry have played important roles in improving understanding of the ecological implications of environmental contaminants. The authors focus on gains in understanding that would not have been possible through traditional toxicity bioassays alone and argue that more robust scientific understanding can be used to modernize WQC development. In particular, the present article highlights ways to increase the relevance of toxicity testing (at different spatiotemporal scales) and incorporate all relevant lines of evidence into WQC modernization. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:285-291. © 2017 SETAC.

Development and validation of a metal mixture bioavailability model (MMBM) to predict chronic toxicity of Ni-Zn-Pb mixtures to Ceriodaphnia dubia

Recently, several bioavailability-based models have been shown to predict acute metal mixture toxicity with reasonable accuracy. However, the application of such models to chronic mixture toxicity is less well established. Therefore, we developed in the present study a chronic metal mixture bioavailability model (MMBM) by combining the existing chronic daphnid bioavailability models for Ni, Zn, and Pb with the independent action (IA) model, assuming strict non-interaction between the metals for binding at the metal-specific biotic ligand sites. To evaluate the predictive capacity of the MMBM, chronic (7d) reproductive toxicity of Ni-Zn-Pb mixtures to Ceriodaphnia dubia was investigated in four different natural waters (pH range: 7-8; Ca range: 1-2 mM; Dissolved Organic Carbon range: 5-12 mg/L). In each water, mixture toxicity was investigated at equitoxic metal concentration ratios as well as at environmental (i.e. realistic) metal concentration ratios. Statistical analysis of mixture effects revealed that observed interactive effects depended on the metal concentration ratio investigated when evaluated relative to the concentration addition (CA) model, but not when evaluated relative to the IA model. This indicates that interactive effects observed in an equitoxic experimental design cannot always be simply extrapolated to environmentally realistic exposure situations. Generally, the IA model predicted Ni-Zn-Pb mixture toxicity more accurately than the CA model. Overall, the MMBM predicted Ni-Zn-Pb mixture toxicity (expressed as % reproductive inhibition relative to a control) in 85% of the treatments with less than 20% error. Moreover, the MMBM predicted chronic toxicity of the ternary Ni-Zn-Pb mixture at least equally accurately as the toxicity of the individual metal treatments (RMSE_Mix = 16; RMSE_{Zn only} = 18; RMSE_{Ni only} = 17; RMSE_{Pb only} = 23). Based on the present study, we believe MMBMs can be a promising tool to account for the effects of water chemistry on metal mixture toxicity during chronic exposure and could be used in metal risk assessment frameworks.

Characterization of the effects of binary metal mixtures on short-term uptake of Ag, Cu, and Ni by rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Single metal Biotic Ligand Models (BLMs) have been developed for a number of metals and model organisms. While these BLMs improve our ability to regulate metals in the aquatic environment, in reality, organisms are often simultaneously exposed to metal mixtures. Recently, several attempts have been made to develop mixture BLMs (mBLMs). Some of these models assume competitive interactions between all metals, while others assume only metals with a similar mode of action (e.g., Na⁺ or Ca²⁺ antagonists) will competitively interact. To begin testing these assumptions in the mBLM framework, standard 3-h gill metal binding assays with Ag, Cu, and Ni (primary metals), were performed in vivo on freshwater rainbow trout. Fish were exposed across a range of concentrations encompassing the 96-h LC50 for that metal to characterize uptake kinetics for each of these three primary metals (radiolabelled) in the presence and absence of a secondary metal (Ag, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, or Zn; not radiolabelled). We observed a complex series of interactions in binary mixtures that frequently contradicted theoretical expectations. Metals with similar modes of action did competitively interact in some instances, but not others, and when they did compete the competition was not necessarily reciprocal (e.g., Cu inhibited Ag uptake but Ag did not inhibit Cu uptake). We also observed examples of interactions between metals with dissimilar modes of action and several examples of metals stimulating the uptake of other metals. The underlying mechanisms for these unexpected interactions are unclear, but suggest that many of the current assumptions in mBLMs regarding the number and types of metal uptake sites and corresponding metal interactions are not correct. Careful characterization of metal mixture interactions is clearly needed before a reliable mBLM can be developed.

Interactions of waterborne and dietborne Pb in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss: Bioaccumulation, physiological responses, and chronic toxicity

In Pb-contaminated environments, simultaneous exposure to both waterborne and dietborne Pb is likely to occur. This study examined the potential interactive effects of these two pathways in juvenile rainbow trout that were exposed to Pb in the water alone, in the diet alone, and in combination for 7 weeks. The highest waterborne Pb concentration tested (110μgL(-1)) was approximately equivalent to the 7-week LC20 (97μgL(-1)) measured in a separate trial, while the lowest was a concentration often measured in contaminated environments (8.5μgL(-1)). The live diet (10% daily ration on a wet mass basis) consisted of oligochaete worms (Lumbriculus variegatus) pre-exposed for 28days to the same waterborne Pb concentration, and the highest dietary dosing rate to the trout was 12.6μg Pb g fish(-1)day(-1). With waterborne exposure, whole body Pb burden increased to a greater extent in the worms than in the fish. Nonetheless, in trout waterborne exposure still resulted in 20-60-fold greater Pb accumulation compared to dietborne Pb exposure. However, combined exposure to both waterborne and dietborne Pb reduced the whole body accumulation extensively at waterborne Pb>50μgL(-1), with similar antagonistic interaction in liver and carcass (but not gill or gut) at a lower threshold of 20μgL(-1). Growth effects in trout were minimal with marginal reductions in the dietborne and combined exposures seen only at 110μgL(-1). Chronic Pb exposure reduced lipid and carbohydrates level in the worms by 50% and 80% respectively, while protein was unchanged, so growth effects in trout may have been of indirect origin. After 7 weeks, Ca(2+) homeostasis in the trout was unaffected, but there were impacts on Na(+). Blood Na(+) was reduced in waterborne and dietborne exposures, while gut Na(+)/K(+) ATPase activities were reduced in waterborne and combined exposures. This study is the first, to our knowledge to examine the interaction of waterborne and dietborne Pb exposure in fish. While physiological impacts of Pb were observed in both worms and fish, higher concentrations of dietborne Pb actually protected fish from waterborne Pb bioaccumulation and these effects. The impacts of metals on diet quality should not be neglected in future dietborne toxicity studies using live prey.

A test of the additivity of acute toxicity of binary-metal mixtures of ni with Cd, Cu, and Zn to Daphnia magna, using the inflection point of the concentration-response curves

Mixtures of metals are often present in surface waters, leading to toxicity that is difficult to predict. To provide data for development of multimetal toxicity models, Daphnia magna neonates were exposed to individual metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn) and to binary combinations of those metals in standard 48-h lethality tests conducted in US Environmental Protection Agency moderately hard reconstituted water with 3 mg dissolved organic carbon (DOC)/L added as Suwannee River fulvic acid. Toxicity tests were performed with mixtures of Ni and 1) Cd, which is considerably more toxic than Ni; 2) Cu, which is less toxic than Cd but more toxic than Ni; and 3) Zn, which has a toxicity threshold similar to Ni. For each combination of metals in the binary mixtures, the concentration of 1 metal was held constant while the second metal was varied through a series that ranged from nonlethal to lethal concentrations; then the roles of the metals were reversed. Inflection points of the concentration-response curves were compared to test for additivity of toxicity. Sublethal concentrations of Ni caused less-than-additive toxicity with Cd, slightly less-than-additive toxicity with Zn, and greater-than-additive toxicity with Cu. One explanation of these results might be competition among the metals for binding to biological ligands and/or dissolved organic matter. Therefore, models might have to incorporate sometimes competing chemical interactions to accurately predict metal-mixture toxicity. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1843-1851. © 2015 SETAC.

Reproductive toxicity of binary and ternary mixture combinations of nickel, zinc, and lead to Ceriodaphnia dubia is best predicted with the independent action model

Metals occur as mixtures in the environment. Risk assessment procedures for metals currently lack a framework to incorporate chronic metal mixture toxicity. In the present study, the toxicity of binary and ternary mixture combinations of Ni, Zn, and Pb was investigated in 3 large-scale experiments using the standard chronic (7-d) Ceriodaphnia dubia reproductive toxicity test. These metals were selected because of anticipated differences in mode of action. The toxicity of the metals in most mixtures, expressed as either free metal ion activities or as dissolved metal concentrations, were antagonistic relative to the concentration addition model, whereas no significant (p < 0.05) interactive effects were observed relative to the independent action model. The only exception was the binary Pb-Zn mixture, for which mixture effects were noninteractive based on the dissolved concentrations, but antagonistic based on free ion activities all relative to the independent action model. Overall, the independent action model fitted the observed toxicity better than the concentration addition model, which is consistent with the different modes of action of these metals. The concentration addition model mostly overestimated toxicity. Finally, the present study warns against extrapolation of the type of interactive effects between species, even when they are closely related. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1796-1805. © 2015 SETAC.

Development of acute toxicity quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR) and their use in linear alkylbenzene sulfonate species sensitivity distributions

Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS) is high tonnage and widely dispersed anionic surfactant used by the consumer products sector. A range of homologous structures are used in laundry applications that differ primarily on the length of the hydrophobic alkyl chain. This research summarizes the development of a set of acute toxicity QSARs (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships) for fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and daphnids (Daphnia magna, Ceriodaphnia dubia) using accepted test guideline approaches. A series of studies on pure chain length LAS from C10 to C14 were used to develop the QSARs and the robustness of the QSARs was tested by evaluation of two technical mixtures of differing compositions. All QSARs were high quality (R(2) were 0.965-0.997, p < 0.0001). Toxicity normalization employing QSARs is used to interpret a broader array of tests on LAS chain length materials to a diverse group of test organisms with the objective of developing Species Sensitivity Distributions (SSDs) for various chain lengths of interest. Mixtures include environmental distributions measured from exposure monitoring surveys of wastewater effluents, various commercial mixtures, or specific chain lengths. SSD 5th percentile hazardous concentrations (HC5s) ranged from 0.129 to 0.254 mg/L for wastewater effluents containing an average of 11.26-12 alkyl carbons. The SSDs are considered highly robust given the breadth of species (n = 19), use of most sensitive endpoints from true chronic studies and the quality of the underlying statistical properties of the SSD itself. The data continue to indicate a low hazard to the environment relative to expected environmental concentrations.

Tissue concentrations as the dose metric to assess potential toxic effects of metals in field-collected fish: Copper and cadmium

The present study examined the available literature linking whole-body tissue concentrations with toxic effects in fish species for copper and cadmium. The variability in effect concentration for both copper and cadmium among species occurred within an order of magnitude for all responses, whereas the range for lethal toxicity based on water exposure spanned approximately 4 to 5 orders of magnitude. Fish tissue concentrations causing adverse effects were just above background concentrations, occurring between 1 μg/g and 10 μg/g for copper and 0.1 μg/g to 4 μg/g for cadmium. The results also show that salmonids are especially sensitive to cadmium, which appears to be a function of chemical potency. No studies were found that indicated adverse effects without increases in whole-body concentration of these metals. This narrow range for dose-response implies that a toxicological spillover point occurs when the detoxification capacity of various tissues within the animal are exceeded, and this likely occurs at a similar whole-body concentration for all naïvely exposed fish species. Elevated whole-body concentrations in fish from the field may be indicative of possible acclimation to metals that may or may not result in effects for target species. Acclimation concentrations may be useful in that they signal excessive metal concentrations in water, sediment, or prey species for a given site and indicate likely toxic effects for species unable to acclimate to excess metal exposure. Using tissue residues as the dose metric for these metals provides another line of evidence for assessing impaired ecosystems and greater confidence that hazard concentrations are protective for all fish species.

Testing an application of a biotic ligand model to predict acute toxicity of metal mixtures to rainbow trout

The authors tested the applicability of a previously developed biotic ligand model (BLM) to predict acute toxicity of single metals and metal mixtures (cadmium, lead, and zinc) to rainbow trout fry (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from a single available dataset. The BLM used in the present study hypothesizes that metals inhibit an essential cation (calcium) and organisms die as a result of its deficiency, leading to an assumption that the proportion of metal-binding ligand (f) is responsible for the toxic effects of metals on the survival of rainbow trout. The f value is a function of free-ion concentrations of metals computed by a chemical speciation model, and the function has affinity constants as model parameters. First, the survival effects of single metals were statistically modeled separately (i.e., f-survival relationship) by using the generalized linear mixed model with binomial distribution. The modeled responses of survival rates to f overlapped reasonably irrespective of metals tested, supporting the theoretical prediction from the BLM that f-survival relationships are comparable regardless of metal species. The authors thus developed the generalized linear mixed model based on all data pooled across the single-metal tests. The best-fitted model well predicted the survival responses observed in mixture tests (r = 0.97), providing support for the applicability of the BLM to predict effects of metal mixtures.

Testing WHAM-FTOX with laboratory toxicity data for mixtures of metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Ag, Pb)

The Windermere humic aqueous model using the toxicity function (WHAM-FTOX ) describes cation toxicity to aquatic organisms in terms of 1) accumulation by the organism of metabolically active protons and metals at reversible binding sites, and 2) differing toxic potencies of the bound cations. Cation accumulation (νi , in mol g(-1) ) is estimated through calculations with the WHAM chemical speciation model by assuming that organism binding sites can be represented by those of humic acid. Toxicity coefficients (αi ) are combined with νi to obtain the variable FTOX (= Σ αi νi ) which, between lower and upper thresholds (FTOX,LT , FTOX,UT ), is linearly related to toxic effect. Values of αi , FTOX,LT , and FTOX,LT are obtained by fitting toxicity data. Reasonable fits (72% of variance in toxic effect explained overall) were obtained for 4 large metal mixture acute toxicity experiments involving daphnids (Cu, Zn, Cd), lettuce (Cu, Zn, Ag), and trout (Zn, Cd, Pb). Strong nonadditive effects, most apparent in results for tests involving Cd, could be explained approximately by purely chemical competition for metal accumulation. Tentative interpretation of parameter values obtained from these and other experimental data suggests the following order of bound cation toxicity: H < Al < (Cu Zn Pb UO2 ) < (Cd Ag). Another trend is a strong increase in Cd toxicity relative to that of Zn as organism complexity increases (from bacteria to fish).

Metal mixtures modeling evaluation project: 1. Background

Despite more than 5 decades of aquatic toxicity tests conducted with metal mixtures, there is still a need to understand how metals interact in mixtures and to predict their toxicity more accurately than what is currently done. The present study provides a background for understanding the terminology, regulatory framework, qualitative and quantitative concepts, experimental approaches, and visualization and data-analysis methods for chemical mixtures, with an emphasis on bioavailability and metal-metal interactions in mixtures of waterborne metals. In addition, a Monte Carlo-type randomization statistical approach to test for nonadditive toxicity is presented, and an example with a binary-metal toxicity data set demonstrates the challenge involved in inferring statistically significant nonadditive toxicity. This background sets the stage for the toxicity results, data analyses, and bioavailability models related to metal mixtures that are described in the remaining articles in this special section from the Metal Mixture Modeling Evaluation project and workshop. It is concluded that although qualitative terminology such as additive and nonadditive toxicity can be useful to convey general concepts, failure to expand beyond that limited perspective could impede progress in understanding and predicting metal mixture toxicity. Instead of focusing on whether a given metal mixture causes additive or nonadditive toxicity, effort should be directed to develop models that can accurately predict the toxicity of metal mixtures.

Application of a generalized linear mixed model to analyze mixture toxicity: survival of brown trout affected by copper and zinc

Increased concerns about the toxicity of chemical mixtures have led to greater emphasis on analyzing the interactions among the mixture components based on observed effects. The authors applied a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to analyze survival of brown trout (Salmo trutta) acutely exposed to metal mixtures that contained copper and zinc. Compared with dominant conventional approaches based on an assumption of concentration addition and the concentration of a chemical that causes x% effect (ECx), the GLMM approach has 2 major advantages. First, binary response variables such as survival can be modeled without any transformations, and thus sample size can be taken into consideration. Second, the importance of the chemical interaction can be tested in a simple statistical manner. Through this application, the authors investigated whether the estimated concentration of the 2 metals binding to humic acid, which is assumed to be a proxy of nonspecific biotic ligand sites, provided a better prediction of survival effects than dissolved and free-ion concentrations of metals. The results suggest that the estimated concentration of metals binding to humic acid is a better predictor of survival effects, and thus the metal competition at the ligands could be an important mechanism responsible for effects of metal mixtures. Application of the GLMM (and the generalized linear model) presents an alternative or complementary approach to analyzing mixture toxicity.

Metal mixture modeling evaluation project: 2. Comparison of four modeling approaches

As part of the Metal Mixture Modeling Evaluation (MMME) project, models were developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan), the US Geological Survey (USA), HDR|HydroQual (USA), and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (United Kingdom) to address the effects of metal mixtures on biological responses of aquatic organisms. A comparison of the 4 models, as they were presented at the MMME workshop in Brussels, Belgium (May 2012), is provided in the present study. Overall, the models were found to be similar in structure (free ion activities computed by the Windermere humic aqueous model [WHAM]; specific or nonspecific binding of metals/cations in or on the organism; specification of metal potency factors or toxicity response functions to relate metal accumulation to biological response). Major differences in modeling approaches are attributed to various modeling assumptions (e.g., single vs multiple types of binding sites on the organism) and specific calibration strategies that affected the selection of model parameters. The models provided a reasonable description of additive (or nearly additive) toxicity for a number of individual toxicity test results. Less-than-additive toxicity was more difficult to describe with the available models. Because of limitations in the available datasets and the strong interrelationships among the model parameters (binding constants, potency factors, toxicity response parameters), further evaluation of specific model assumptions and calibration strategies is needed.

Development and application of a multimetal multibiotic ligand model for assessing aquatic toxicity of metal mixtures

A multimetal, multiple binding site version of the biotic ligand model (mBLM) has been developed for predicting and explaining the bioavailability and toxicity of mixtures of metals to aquatic organisms. The mBLM was constructed by combining information from single-metal BLMs to preserve compatibility between the single-metal and multiple-metal approaches. The toxicities from individual metals were predicted by assuming additivity of the individual responses. Mixture toxicity was predicted based on both dissolved metal and mBLM-normalized bioavailable metal. Comparison of the 2 prediction methods indicates that metal mixtures frequently appear to have greater toxicity than an additive estimation of individual effects on a dissolved metal basis. However, on an mBLM-normalized basis, mixtures of metals appear to be additive or less than additive. This difference results from interactions between metals and ligands in solutions including natural organic matter, processes that are accounted for in the mBLM. As part of the mBLM approach, a technique for considering variability was developed to calculate confidence bounds (called response envelopes) around the central concentration-response relationship. Predictions using the mBLM and response envelope were compared with observed toxicity for a number of invertebrate and fish species. The results show that the mBLM is a useful tool for considering bioavailability when assessing the toxicity of metal mixtures.

Metal mixture modeling evaluation project: 3. Lessons learned and steps forward

A comparison of 4 metal mixture toxicity models (that were based on the biotic ligand model [BLM] and the Windermere humic aqueous model using the toxicity function [WHAM-FTOX ]) was presented in a previous paper. In the present study, a streamlined version of the 4 models was developed and applied to multiple data sets and test conditions to examine key assumptions and calibration strategies that are crucial in modeling metal mixture toxicity. Results show that 1) a single binding site on or in the organism was a useful and oftentimes sufficient framework for predicting metal toxicity; 2) a linear free energy relationship (LFER) for bidentate binding of metals and cations to the biotic ligand provided a good first estimate of binding coefficients; 3) although adjustments in metal binding coefficients or adjustments in chemical potency factors can both be used in model calibration for single-metal exposures, changing metal binding coefficients or chemical potency factors had different effects on model predictions for metal mixtures; and 4) selection of a mixture toxicity model (based on concentration addition or independent action) was important in predicting metal mixture toxicity. Moving forward, efforts should focus on reducing uncertainties in model calibration, including development of better methods to characterize metal binding to toxicologically active binding sites, conducting targeted exposure studies to advance the understanding of metal mixture toxicity, and further developing LFERs and other tools to help constrain the model calibration.

Expanding metal mixture toxicity models to natural stream and lake invertebrate communities

A modeling approach that was used to predict the toxicity of dissolved single and multiple metals to trout is extended to stream benthic macroinvertebrates, freshwater zooplankton, and Daphnia magna. The approach predicts the accumulation of toxicants (H, Al, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in organisms using 3 equilibrium accumulation models that define interactions between dissolved cations and biological receptors (biotic ligands). These models differ in the structure of the receptors and include a 2-site biotic ligand model, a bidentate biotic ligand or 2-pKa model, and a humic acid model. The predicted accumulation of toxicants is weighted using toxicant-specific coefficients and incorporated into a toxicity function called Tox, which is then related to observed mortality or invertebrate community richness using a logistic equation. All accumulation models provide reasonable fits to metal concentrations in tissue samples of stream invertebrates. Despite the good fits, distinct differences in the magnitude of toxicant accumulation and biotic ligand speciation exist among the models for a given solution composition. However, predicted biological responses are similar among the models because there are interdependencies among model parameters in the accumulation-Tox models. To illustrate potential applications of the approaches, the 3 accumulation-Tox models for natural stream invertebrates are used in Monte Carlo simulations to predict the probability of adverse impacts in catchments of differing geology in central Colorado (USA); to link geology, water chemistry, and biological response; and to demonstrate how this approach can be used to screen for potential risks associated with resource development.

The interactive toxicity of cadmium, copper, and zinc to Ceriodaphnia dubia and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Traditionally, aquatic toxicity studies examine the toxicity of a single chemical to an organism. Organisms in nature, however, may be exposed to multiple toxicants. Given this is a more realistic exposure scenario in situ, the authors sought to understand the interactive toxicity of multiple metals to aquatic organisms. The authors performed a series of studies using equitoxic mixtures of cadmium, copper, and zinc to 2 aquatic organisms, rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and the waterflea, Ceriodaphnia dubia. Single metal toxicity tests were conducted to determine the acute median lethal concentration (LC50) values for O. mykiss and short-term, chronic median effective concentration (EC50) values for C. dubia. All 3 metals were then combined in equitoxic concentrations for subsequent mixture studies using a toxic unit (TU) approach (i.e., 1 TU = EC50 or LC50). For C. dubia, the mixture study showed greater-than-additive effects in hard water (TU-based EC50 = 0.74 TU), but less-than-additive effects in soft water (TU-based EC50 = 1.93 TU). The mixture effects for O. mykiss showed less-than-additive effects in both hard and soft waters, with TU-based LC50 values of 2.33 total TU and 2.22 total TU, respectively. These data are useful in helping understand metal mixture toxicity in aquatic systems and indicate that although in most situations the assumption of additivity of metal mixture toxicity is valid, under certain conditions it may not be sufficiently protective.