Ecotoxicology is an interdisciplinary science that deals with the fate and adverse effects of chemicals on ecosystems. A well-balanced assessment of the adverse effects of chemical pollutants in the environment therefore, should be based on studies integrating analytical, toxicological and ecological information. Ecological and analytical information on pollutants are usually obtained from -'field' studies, while toxicological information is mostly obtained from laboratory studies with a limited number of experimental animals (rats, mice, quail, fish, Daphnia, etc.). As the abiotic and biotic environment in the field is very different from that in a laboratory study, it is impossible to predict or explain the effects in a field situation from effects observed in the laboratory. As a consequence, it is almost impossible to establish more than only an empirical relationship between concentrations in the environment or tissues and ecological effects. A large gap in the dose-effect chain still remains to be explained. The gap between field and laboratory studies can be lessened by a better understanding of the mode of fate and action of chemicals in the organism on one hand, and an improved knowledge of relevant physiological processes on the other. The integration of knowledge on physiology and mode of action of chemicals may provide relevant and sensitive parameters to monitor the toxic action of chemicals under 'field' conditions. Studying these parameters in the same species under laboratory and under field conditions may also significantly improve the validity of extrapolation of toxicity data to effects in the field. The use of more or less universal parameters, which can be measured in a wide range of species, can provide a key to the understanding why a certain species is, and another species is not, vulnerable to the toxic action of a chemical. We therefore recommend that when studying the toxicity mechanism of chemicals suspected of causing adverse ecological effects, particular attention should be given to potential interference in biochemical/endocrinological control mechanisms of physiological processes that are important for the survival of populations, such as growth, reproduction, energy utilization and osmoregulation. Such studies should be performed on laboratory animals, and on wildlife species under laboratory and semi-field conditions (Fig. 1). Sensitive toxicity parameters may thus be obtained in a retrospective way, and tested in field experiments. These parameters subsequently can be used in a prospective way as biological effect monitors in an early warning system under field conditions. This approach would also provide a better basis for extrapolation of data obtained under laboratory conditions to field situations, and of data obtained for one species to other species. We realize that such an approach requires detailed knowledge and experience in various disciplines. In many instances this cannot be met by individual researchers, but rather should be tackled by groups of researchers specialized in the different research areas. This proposal is therefore also a plea for setting up joint collaborative studies between different institutions crossing national borders.
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Brouwer et al. (1990) studied this question.