Entries by wp_admin

Replacement of peat in artificial soils and sediments

Experts from ECT are participating in the OECD project ‘RePEAT’ led by the Ecotox Centre, Switzerland. The toxicity of chemicals to soil and sediment organisms is strongly influenced by the properties of the soil or sediment to which the organisms are exposed. Therefore, artificial soils or sediments with a precisely defined composition are used in […]

ARISTO prioritised as successful project

The European industry-academia network for revising and advancing the assessment of the soil microbial toxicity of pesticides (ARISTO), was prioritised as successful project by the European Commission. A ‘Results in brief’ article was published on the CORDIS website. The project ARISTO was funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme of the European Union. In the […]

New publication on morphological and DNA-based identification methods to assess earthworm diversity

The time-consuming and expensive identification of soil invertebrates is probably the most important reason for the lack of a German nationwide and standardised survey of soil organisms. The present publication should contribute to solving this problem. Earthworms and soil were sampled at 25 sites, and the animals were identified morphologically and using DNA-based identification methods: community DNA (comDNA) and environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding.

Meet ECT and the SynTech Research Group at the SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting

The SETAC Europe 35th annual meeting ‘Innovation for tomorrow: progress in safe and sustainable concepts’ takes place in Vienna (Austria) from 11 to 15 May 2025. ECT is contributing to this meeting with several presentations. We are looking forward to meeting you at our presentations or at the SynTech Research Group booth 25!

Hyalella azteca bioconcentration test (HYBIT)

ECHA recently announced that the Hyalella azteca bioconcentration test (HYBIT) can fulfil the standard information requirement under REACH for bioaccumulation, unless dietary exposure is required (read more). Thereby, the bioconcentration test (OECD TG 305) with fish will be replaced on a case-by-case basis with a test system that uses freshwater amphipods, i.e. non-vertebrates. A test […]

New publication on TKTD modeling of sublethal endpoints for time‐variable toxicant exposure of Ceriodaphnia

Toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TKTD) modeling can integrate all available data from individual‐level bioassays into a single framework and enable refined risk assessments by extrapolating from laboratory results to time‐variable exposure scenarios. Dynamic energy budget (DEB) models coupled with TKTD modules (DEB-TKTD) are an approach to assess and predict sublethal effects of chemicals on individual organisms. However, thorough […]

Fish short-term reproduction assay (OECD 229)

The fish short-term reproduction test is an in vivo screening assay that provides information about possible endocrine-mediated effects on adult fish. Within the OECD Conceptual framework for the testing and assessment of endocrine disrupting chemicals, it is a level 3 assay. We perform this test according to OECD test guideline 229 (Fish short-term reproduction assay, […]

Report published on HP 14 classification of mirror entries in the List of Wastes

Depending on its composition, waste from mirror entries has to be categorized as hazardous or non-hazardous. The hazard property ‘ecotoxic’ (HP 14) can be evaluated based on the content of hazardous substances in the respective waste or using ecotoxicity tests with samples and eluates of this waste. At the EU level, specific requirements for the […]

Fish early life stage test

Fish early-life stage tests are required for environmental risk assessments of industrial chemicals, plant protection products, biocides, and human and veterinary pharmaceuticals to evaluate chronic effects on the sensitive early life stages of fish. We perform these tests according to OECD test guideline 210 (Fish, early-life stage toxicity test, revised in 2013) in compliance with […]