Alternatives for the no-observed-effect level

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.5620120119· OSTI ID:6382261

Hoekstra, J A ^[1]; Van Ewijk, P H ^[2]

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1. National Inst. of Public Health and Environmental Protection, Bilthoven (Netherlands)
2. Duphar, Weesp (Netherlands)

This paper questions the usefulness of the no-observed-effect level (NOEL) as a summary statistic for ecotoxicological experiments. Quantification of the NOEL depends critically on size and variability of an experiment: smaller and less precise experiments lead to higher values for the NOEL, which gives the wrong signal to suppliers of a NOEL. The NOEL will generally lie in a dose range where possible effects cannot be excluded, even within the context of the experiment. Hence it does not form a suitable starting point for extrapolation to field situations. Alternative methods of finding a dose whose effect is at most 25%, followed by linear extrapolation to a dose whose effect is acceptably small. The procedure leads to higher values if efforts are made to increase the power of the experiment.

• OSTI ID: 6382261
• Journal Information: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States) Vol. 12:1; ISSN ETOCDK; ISSN 0730-7268
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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