Research Progress on Toxicity Assessment Methods of Mixed Pollutants

Abstract

Since the 1930s, the field has used the following three models to evaluate the toxic effects of mixed pollutants: concentration addition model, independent action model and interaction model. The first two are applicable to the case that there is no interaction between the mixed components and do not affect each other, and the third is mainly applied to the case that there is an interaction between the components, which may lead to the enhancement or reduction of toxicity. In the environment, mixtures are not always simply composed of chemicals with similar or different effects, and it may be necessary to consider multiple models applied together during the toxicity assessment process, especially for mixture contamination in complex environments.