Environmental Risk Assessment for Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Belgian Part of the North Sea.

Belgian coastal waters are influenced by densely populated cities, industrial activities, and marine shipping, and they are therefore subject to chemical contamination. In the NewSTHEPS project (2012-2019), more than 150 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) were detected in the Belgian Part of the North Sea, including hormones, personal care products (PCPs), pesticides, non-hormone pharmaceuticals, phenols, and phthalates. In this study, we developed and used an automated algorithm to calculate the marine screening level predicted no-effect concentration (PNECscreen) of substances, and to identify the organisms and organism groups most sensitive to these chemicals, based on ecotoxicological data from the ECOTOX Knowledgebase.

Neonicotinoid Insecticides from a Marine Perspective: Acute and Chronic Copepod Testing and Derivation of Environmental Quality Standards.

Neonicotinoid insecticides have become of global concern for the aquatic environment. Harpacticoid copepods are among the organisms most sensitive to neonicotinoids. We exposed the brackish copepod Nitocra spinipes to 4 neonicotinoid insecticides (clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam) to investigate acute toxicity on adults (96-h exposure) and effects on larval development (7-d exposure).

A margin of safety approach for the assessment of environmentally realistic chemical mixtures in the marine environment based on combined passive sampling and ecotoxicity testing.

Organisms in the marine environment are being exposed to an increasing variety of chemicals. This research presents an effect-based monitoring method for the derivation of a margin of safety for environmentally realistic chemical mixtures. The method is based on a combination of passive sampling and ecotoxicity testing.

Growth Stimulation Effects of Environmentally Realistic Contaminant Mixtures on a Marine Diatom.

To estimate mixture effects caused by the high number of chemicals simultaneously present in the environment, methods for routine effect assessment of environmentally realistic contaminant mixtures are needed. We repeatedly exposed the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to Speedisk passive sampler extracts and observed statistically significant growth stimulation up to 6 and 7% for samples from inside and outside the harbor of Zeebrugge, respectively. These effects were found at summed contaminant concentrations (159-166 ng L ) that were within a 1.

SETAC GLB and SETAC Europe SAC: a liaison promoting the next generation of ecotoxicologists and environmental chemists.

This commentary is an introduction for students to the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and its Student Advisory Council (SAC). As young academics face challenges while trying to develop their careers, SETAC and the SAC help facilitate student involvement in the various communities within the society that can help to develop the students' careers within the environmental sciences [e.g.