ASTM E1604-12
Standard Guide for Behavioral Testing in Aquatic Toxicology

Standard No.

ASTM E1604-12

Release Date

2012

Published By

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

Status

Be replaced

Replace By

ASTM E1604-20

Latest

ASTM E1604-20

Scope

5.1 Protection of a species requires the prevention of detrimental effects of chemicals on the survival, growth, reproduction, health, and uses of individuals of that species. Behavioral toxicity provides information concerning sublethal effects of chemicals and signals the presence of toxic test substances.

5.1.1 The behavioral responses of all organisms are adaptive and essential to survival. Major changes in the behavioral responses of fish, amphibians, and macroinvertebrates may result in a diminished ability to survive, grow, or reproduce and cause significant changes in the natural population (8).

5.2 The results from behavioral toxicity tests may be useful for measuring injury in the assessment of damages resulting from the release of hazardous materials (9) .

5.3 Behavioral toxicity test methods may be useful for long-term monitoring of effluents (10) .

5.4 The results from behavioral toxicity data can be used to predict the effects of exposure on fish, amphibians, and aquatic invertebrates likely to occur in field situations as a result of exposure under similar conditions, including the avoidance of exposure by motile organisms (11).

5.5 The results from behavioral toxicity tests might be an important consideration for assessing the hazard of materials to aquatic organisms. Such results might also be used when deriving water quality criteria for fish and aquatic invertebrates organisms.

5.6 The results from behavioral toxicity tests can be used to compare the sensitivities of different species, relative toxicity of different chemical substances on the same organism, or effect of various environmental variables on the toxicity of a chemical substance.

5.7 The results from behavioral toxicity tests can be used to predict the effects of long-term exposure.

5.8 The results of behavioral toxicity tests can be useful for guiding decisions regarding the extent of remedial action needed for contaminated aquatic and terrestrial sites.

5.9 The behavioral characteristics of a particular organism must be understood and defined before a response can be used as a measure of toxicity. The range of variability of any behavioral response of unexposed organisms is influenced by genetic, experiential, physiological, and environmental factors. Thus it is important to avoid selecting test organisms from populations that may vary significantly in these factors.

5.10 The results of behavioral toxicity tests will depend on the behavioral response measured, testing conditions, water quality, species, genetic strain, life stage, health, and general condition of test organisms. Therefore, the behavioral response may be affect......

ASTM E1604-12 Referenced Document

• ASTM E1241 Standard Guide for Conducting Early Life-Stage Toxicity Tests with Fishes
• ASTM E1383 
• ASTM E729 Standard Guide for Conducting Acute Toxicity Tests on Test Materials with Fishes, Macroinvertebrates, and Amphibians

ASTM E1604-12 history

• 2020 ASTM E1604-20 Standard Guide for Behavioral Testing in Aquatic Toxicology
• 2012 ASTM E1604-12 Standard Guide for Behavioral Testing in Aquatic Toxicology
• 1994 ASTM E1604-94(2007) Standard Guide for Behavioral Testing in Aquatic Toxicology
• 1994 ASTM E1604-94(2002) Standard Guide for Behavioral Testing in Aquatic Toxicology
• 1994 ASTM E1604-94 Standard Guide for Behavioral Testing in Aquatic Toxicology