ARE AOPs THE FUTURE OF ECOTOXICOLOGY? AOPs (Adverse Outcome Pathways) were introduced in the field of ecotoxicology due to the need of replacement of the classic system for assessing adverse results (considering only the mortality of organisms exposed to certain substances or mixtures) to a predictive system based on the measurement of biological events occurring primarily at a molecular level and having clear biological relationships with potential adverse effects on more complex biological systems. AOPs are useful for organizing and integrating information related to the toxic potential of chemical substances alone or in mixtures, in exposed organisms, supporting the prediction and understanding of the effects induced by stressors and the development of action plans in order to reduce the exposure of organisms to acceptable levels. This tool is already gaining strength and being used worldwide by scientists, and in the future it may be the basis for the regulation of chemical substances and their mixtures. This article presents the basic principles related to the development and use of an AOP, in a simple and objective way, in addition to presenting practical example of this tool, which can be considered the future of ecotoxicology
AOPs SÃO O FUTURO DA ECOTOXICOLOGIA?