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Ecotoxicological information

Toxicity to other aquatic organisms

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Description of key information

A range of studies are available that relate to copper toxicity towards amphibians. Only nominal NOECs/EC50 values are available and these were therefore not used for the PNEC derivation.

Additional information

Almost all tests gathered from literature on the effect of copper towards amphibians were performed on early life stages, in laboratory water (with lowDOCconcentration), with 4 days exposure times and according to standard guidelines. The results clearly show that amphibians (data were found for Xenopus laevis, Rana pipiens, Rana ridibunda, Rana hexadactyla, Rana Sphenocephala and Rana tigrina) are not sensitive towards copper. Indeed LC50 and NOEC/(L(E) C10 values respectively between 39 and 1,250 µg/l and between 40 and 100,000 µg/l were found.

Most of the studies report however EC50 values and test concentrations were not measured and therefore the data-reliability is low. These data were therefore not retained for the PNEC calculations

Fort et al., 2000 determined optimal copper concentration ranges for the early life stages of the amphibiaX. Laevis: 1 to 10 µg Cu/L. Copper deficiency was observed at copper concentrations < 1 µg Cu/L.