Ten challenges for improved ecotoxicological testing in environmental risk assessment

New regulations, in particular the new European chemicals legislation (REACH), will increase the demands on environmental risk assessment (ERA). The requirements on efficient ecotoxicological testing systems are summarized, and 10 major issues for the improvement of ERA practices are discussed, namely: (1) the choice of representative test species, (2) the development of test systems that are relevant for ecosystems in different parts of the world, (3) the inclusion of sensitive life stages in test systems, (4) the inclusion of endpoints on genetic variation in populations, (5) using mechanistic understanding of toxic effects to develop more informative and efficient test systems, (6) studying disruption in invertebrate endocrine mechanisms, that may differ radically from those we know from vertebrates, (7) developing standardized methodologies for testing of poorly water-soluble substances, (8) taking ethical considerations into account, in particular by reducing the use of vertebrates in ecotoxicological tests, (9) using a systematic (statistical) approach in combination with mechanistic knowledge to combine tests efficiently into testing systems, and (10) developing ERA so that it provides the information needed for precautionary decision-making.