Considerations and data update for the inference of environmental quality standards for two avermectins widely used in salmon aquaculture.

We have updated and reviewed toxicity data for Emamectin benzoate (EMB) and Ivermectin (IVER), two in-feed drugs used to treat sea lice in farmed Atlantic salmon, and inferred new Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) using a deterministic approach or Species Sensitivity Distributions (SSDs) based on available data. We used a SSD model averaging approach and inferred a water acute EQS value of 24.9 ng/L (SSD) for EMB, while previously established chronic water EQS of 0.17 ng/L and sediment benthic EQS of 131 ng/kg dry weight remained unchanged. For IVER, both a water acute EQS of 8.04 ng/L and a chronic water EQS of 3.98 ng/L were inferred using SSDs as well as a benthic EQS of 290 ng/kg dry weight using a deterministic approach. In light of the lack of solubility and tendency of both avermectins to sorb to material benthic EQSs remain the most relevant value to consider for regulators.