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National Standard of ‘Gobiocypris Rarus- Fish Acute Toxicity Test’ to Be Published

A Chinese national standard (coded as 20100319-T-469) concerning fish acute toxicity has passed the technical validation in Beijing in September of this year and shall be published soon. This recommended standard specifies Gobiocypris rarus as the eco-toxicity test material, which is the first national standard on eco-toxicity testing method that adopts a Chinese endemic species as the test organism.

The Gobiocypris rarus is a sensitive test fish material, which is recommended to be used in extensive eco-toxicity tests by the Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals(compiled by China MEP and published in 2004) and the newly released GB/T 27861-2011 (Chemicals-Fish acute toxicity test, which was promulgated with reference to the OECD No.203: 1992). So far, the evaluation of Gobiocypris rarus has proved it is the most suitable type of fish in China for tests, such as the fish acute toxicity test, fish prolonged toxicity test (14-day study), fish early-life stage toxicity test, etc.

The fish acute toxicity test is a mandatory testing item in the minimum eco-toxicological data requirements of the general case of Simplified Notification and Regular Notification under China New Chemical Substance Notification (China NCSN). Specified in the China NCSN Guidance Document(2010), the eco-toxicity tests need to be conducted on Chinese test organisms in accredited MEP-approved Chinese laboratories (so far there are 9 in total). The 'Chinese Test Organisms' refer to organisms cultivated and bred in China that comply with the requirements for the designated tests. Though Gobiocypris rarus is listed as "Chinese Test Organisms" at present, the laboratories prefer to use Brachydanio rerio or Danio rerio for it is used as an adequate test fish with mature testing standards worldwide. According to Mr. Tommy Kong, the senior specialist in China REACH from REACH24H Consulting Group, with the release of this standard, Gobiocypris rarus shall be gradually promoted to be used more popularly, not only for its feature as the Chinese endemic species, thus, the tests based on which are more effective to reflect the influence of tested new substances on the environment in China, but also for the concern of traceability of test data.

However, the national standard to be published is only recommended rather than compulsory. Therefore, there will be no significant influence on the laboratories in China at present, analyzed by Mr. Song from Shenyang Research Institute of Chemical Industry (SRICI). Notifiers entrusting the MEP-approved laboratories to do eco-toxicity tests can be relieved that in a short term the Gobiocypris rarus won’t be forced to achieve testing data from Gobiocypris rarus under China NCSN.

As for the popularization of Gobiocypris rarus as test fish, there is still a big problem that the regular rations of the fish for testing is difficult to be ensured, said Mr. Cao from Guangdong Detection Center of Microbiology (GDCM). Currently, the test fish of Gobiocypris rarus is ordered from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IHB), located in Wuhan, mainly for research use with a small amount. As a kind of standardized test fish, Gobiocypris rarus can be extensively adopted in chemicals testing, toxicology, genetics, etc. However, a breeding base for quantitative cultivation has to be established first to meet the testing needs.

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