Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Natural Resources › NR 100-199 - Environmental Protection - General › Chapter NR 105 - Surface Water Quality Criteria And Secondary Values For Toxic Substances › Section NR 105.03 - Definitions

Current through June 24, 2024
(1) "Acute toxicity" means the ability of a
				substance to cause mortality or an adverse effect in an organism which results
				from a single or short-term exposure to the substance.
(2) "Acute toxicity criterion" or "ATC" means
				the maximum daily concentration of a substance which ensures adequate
				protection of sensitive species of aquatic life from the acute toxicity of that
				substance and will adequately protect the designated fish and aquatic life use
				of the surface water if not exceeded more than once every 3 years. If the
				available data indicate that one or more life stages of a particular species
				are more sensitive to a substance than other life stages of the same species,
				the ATC shall represent the acute toxicity of the most sensitive life
				stage.
(3) "Adequate protection"
				means a level of protection which ensures survival of a sufficient number of
				healthy individuals in a population of aquatic species to provide for the
				continuation of an unreduced population of these species.
(4) "Adverse effect" means any effect
				resulting in a functional impairment or a pathological lesion, or both, which
				may affect the performance of the whole organism, or which contributes to a
				reduced ability to respond to an additional challenge. Adverse effects include
				toxicant-induced mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic effects or impaired,
				developmental, immunological or reproductive effects.
(5) "Baseline BAF" means for organic
				chemicals, a bioaccumulation factor normalized to 100% lipid that is based on
				the concentration of a freely dissolved chemical in the ambient water and takes
				into account the partitioning of the chemical within the organism. For
				inorganic chemicals, a bioaccumulation factor is based on the wet weight of the
				tissue.
(6) "Baseline BCF" means
				for organic chemicals, a bioconcentration factor normalized to 100% lipid that
				is based on the concentration of freely dissolved chemical in the ambient water
				and takes into account the partitioning of the chemical within the organism.
				For inorganic chemicals, a bioconcentration factor is based on the wet weight
				of the tissue.
(7)
				"Bioaccumulation" means the net accumulation of a substance by an organism as a
				result of uptake from all environmental sources.
(8) "Bioaccumulation factor" or "BAF" means
				the ratio (in L/kg) of a substance's concentration in the tissue of an aquatic
				organism to its concentration in the ambient water, in situations where both
				the organism and its food are exposed to the substance and where the ratio does
				not change substantially over time.
(9) "Bioaccumulative chemical of concern" or
				"BCC" means any substance that has the potential to cause adverse effects
				which, upon entering the surface waters, accumulates in aquatic organisms by a
				human health or wildlife bioaccumulation factor greater than 1000.
(10) "Bioconcentration" means the net
				accumulation of a substance by an aquatic organism as a result of uptake
				directly from the ambient water through its gill membranes or other external
				body surfaces.
(11)
				"Bioconcentration factor" or "BCF" means the ratio (in L/kg) of a substance's
				concentration in the tissue of an aquatic organism to its concentration in the
				ambient water, in situations where the organism is exposed through the water
				only and where the ratio does not change substantially over time.
(12) "Biota-sediment accumulation factor" or
				"BSAF" means the ratio (in kg of organic carbon/kg of lipid) of a substance's
				lipid-normalized concentration in the tissue of an aquatic organism to its
				organic carbon-normalized concentration in surface sediment, in situations
				where the ratio does not change substantially over time, both the organism and
				its food are exposed, and where the surface sediment is representative of the
				average surface sediment in the vicinity of the organism.
(13) "Carcinogen" means any substance listed
				in Table 9 or a substance for which the induction of benign or malignant
				neoplasms has been demonstrated in:
(a)
				Humans; or
(b) Two mammalian
				species; or
(c) One mammalian
				species, independently reproduced; or
(d) One mammalian species, to an unusual
				degree with respect to increased incidence, shortened latency period, variety
				of site, tumor type, or decreased age at onset; or
(e) One mammalian species, supported by
				reproducible positive results in at least 3 different types of short-term tests
				which are indicative of potential oncogenic activity.