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Water: Water Quality Standards Academy

Brief Topic Quiz: Aquatic Life Criteria

Aquatic Life Criteria

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Basic Course: Supplemental Topics

To complete your review of the topic in this module, please take the self-assesement quiz by reviewing each question and considering the possible responses.

A note about the quiz:

At the bottom of this page are the answers for this section.

Answer each of the questions below

1. For a given chemical, aquatic life criteria specify limits for which of the  following?
  1. Magnitude  of a concentration.
  2. Duration over which the concentration is averaged.
  3. Frequency of exposure to the concentration.
  4. None of the above.
  5. All of the above.
2. Statement: Aquatic  life criteria are usually derived for both freshwater and saltwater organisms.
  1. True.
  2. False.
3. Which one of the following would undermine the validity of data being considered for use in developing national aquatic life criteria?
  1. Use of a single species and compound for each test.
  2. Use of species from outside of North America.
  3. Use of flow-through tests if the compound is volatile.
  4. Use of a control.
4. Statement: Where toxicity data are available for multiple life stages of the same species, the EPA guidelines require that the data from the most sensitive life stage be used.
  1. True.
  2. False.
5. Which one of the  following is NOT correct regarding the development of site-specific criteria?

  1. The calculation approach is the same as that used by EPA when deriving national numerical criteria.

  2. National criteria may be under- or overprotective for a local water body.
  3. Boundaries need to be defined for the application of  site-specific criteria.
  4. Site-specific criteria must be supportive of the waterbody’s  designated uses.

Answers

  1. For a given chemical, aquatic life criteria specify limits for which of the following?

    Answer: All of the above.–Specifically, aquatic life exposure to the chemical should not exceed either the CMC (at a 1-hour average concentration) or the CCC (at a 4-day average concentration) more than once every 3 years on average.

  2. True or False Statement: Aquatic life criteria are usually derived for both freshwater and saltwater organisms.

    Answer: True. EPA guidelines for a particular chemical can include four criteria (i.e., a CMC and CCC pairing for freshwater and saltwater respectively).

  3. Which one of the following would undermine the validity of data being considered for use in developing national aquatic life criteria?

    Answer: Use of species from outside of North America.–Data should be specific to North American species, since the criteria will be recommended for application to waters of the United States.

  4. True or False Statement: Where toxicity data are available for multiple life stages of the same species, the EPA guidelines require that the data from the most sensitive life stage be used.

    Answer: True. This ensures that an individual of that species can survive an exposure at any time during its life and thus have the opportunity to produce a succeeding generation.

  5. Which one of the following is NOT correct regarding the development of site-specific criteria?

    Answer: The calculation approach is the same as that used by EPA when deriving national numerical criteria.—A different approach is used for calculating site-specific critiera: The recalculation procedure, the water-effect ratio procedure, or the resident species procedure.

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