An extensive study was carried out in the Netherlands on the occurrence of a number of estrogenic compounds in surface water, sediment, biota, wastewater, rainwater and on the associated effects in ...fish. Compounds investigated included natural and synthetic hormones, phthalates, alkylphenol(ethoxylate)s and bisphenol-A. The results showed that almost all selected (xeno-)estrogens were present at low concentrations in the aquatic environment. Locally, they were found at higher levels. Hormones and nonylphenol(ethoxylate)s were present in concentrations that are reportedly high enough to cause estrogenic effects in fish.
Field surveys did not disclose significant estrogenic effects in male flounder (
Platichthys flesus) in the open sea and in Dutch estuaries. Minor to moderate estrogenic effects were observed in bream (
Abramis brama) in major inland surface waters such as lowland rivers and a harbor area. The prevalence of feminizing effects in male fish is largest in small regional surface waters that are strongly influenced by sources of potential hormone-disrupting compounds. High concentrations of plasma vitellogenin and an increased prevalence of ovotestes occurred in wild male bream in a small river receiving a considerable load of effluent from a large sewage treatment plant. After employing in vitro and in vivo bioassays, both in situ and in the laboratory, we conclude that in this case hormones (especially 17α-ethynylestradiol) and possibly also nonylphenol(ethoxylate)s are primarily responsible for these effects.
Risk maps help risk analysts and scientists to explore the spatial nature of the effects of environmental stressors such as pollutants. The development of Geographic Information Systems over the past ...few decades has greatly improved spatial representation and analysis of environmental information and data. Maps also constitute a powerful tool to communicate the outcome of complex environmental risk assessment to stakeholders such as the general public and policy makers. With appropriate cartography one can improve communication and thus bridge the gap between experts and users. Appropriate risk communication is pivotal to risk management, decision making and implementation and may prevent unnecessary concern about environmental pollutants. However, at present few risk maps are specifically tailored to meet the demands of such defined uses.
This paper presents an overview of the most important types of risk maps that can be distinguished using examples from the scientific literature: contamination maps, exposure maps, hazard maps, vulnerability maps and ‘true’ risk maps. It also discusses, in a general way, the most important issues that need to be addressed when making risk maps for communication purposes: risk perception, target audience, scale and spatial aggregation and visualisation such as use of colours and symbols. Finally, some general rules of thumb are given for making environmental risk maps for communication purposes.
The progress in chemical analytics and understanding of pesticide dynamics in surface waters allows establishing robust data on compounds with frequent exceedances of quality standards. The current ...chemical, temporal, and spatial coverage of the pesticide monitoring campaigns differs strongly between European countries. A questionnaire revealed differences in monitoring strategies in seven selected European countries; Nordic countries prioritize temporal coverage, while others focus on spatial coverage. Chemical coverage has increased, especially for non-polar classes like synthetic pyrethroids. Sweden combines monitoring data with agricultural practices for derived quantities, while the Netherlands emphasizes spatial coverage to trace contamination sources. None of the EU member states currently has established a process for linking chemical surface water monitoring data with regulatory risk assessment, while Switzerland has recently established a legally defined feedback loop. Due to their design and objectives, most strategies do not capture concentration peaks, especially 2-week composite samples, but also grab samples. Nevertheless, for substances that appear problematic in many data sets, the need for action is evident even without harmonization of monitoring programs. Harmonization would be beneficial, however, for cross-national assessment including risk reduction measures.
Background
Discussion concerning the bioavailability and ecotoxicological relevance of non-extractable residues (NER) in soil is still ongoing. Is NER formation a detoxification process or a hidden ...hazard? The use of radiolabelled chemicals enables detection of NER, but the identity of NER is usually unknown. Regulations require clear measurable parameters and the approach of Ortega-Calvo et al. (Environ Sci Technol 49:10255–10264, 2015) defines these.
Results
Following that approach, we studied the fate of three ecotoxic, NER-forming chemicals over a period of 6 months after application to three different soils. Initial
14
C experiments showed formation of NER for all chemicals. For the chemical 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), NER-formation was reproducible in all soils. We applied a recently standardized method using Tenax® to remove the bioavailable fraction of the chemical at test start and test end. Removing the bioavailable fractions also removed toxicity. Further experiments without radiolabelled TNT clearly showed that the toxicity measured in applied soils was caused by the bioavailable chemical and not by NER.
Conclusions
The tool developed can be used if the fate of the chemical including NER formation is well known and reproducible. The other selected chemicals, cypermethrin and carbendazim, showed unexpected behaviour in
14
C-fate experiments. The degree of biodegradation was not reproducible for cypermethrin and unexpected losses occurred with carbendazim. This indicated a very large uncertainty when using non-radiolabelled compounds in NER experiments and thus the tool is not suitable in non-radiolabelled experiments.
Towards a renewed research agenda in ecotoxicology Artigas, Joan; Arts, Gertie; Babut, Marc ...
Environmental pollution (1987),
2012, 2012-Jan, 2012-01-00, 20120101, 2012-01, Letnik:
160, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
New concerns about biodiversity, ecosystem services and human health triggered several new regulations increasing the need for sound ecotoxicological risk assessment. The PEER network aims to share ...its view on the research issues that this challenges. PEER scientists call for an improved biologically relevant exposure assessment. They promote comprehensive effect assessment at several biological levels. Biological traits should be used for Environmental risk assessment (ERA) as promising tools to better understand relationships between structure and functioning of ecosystems. The use of modern high throughput methods could also enhance the amount of data for a better risk assessment. Improved models coping with multiple stressors or biological levels are necessary to answer for a more scientifically based risk assessment. Those methods must be embedded within life cycle analysis or economical models for efficient regulations. Joint research programmes involving humanities with ecological sciences should be developed for a sound risk management.
New regulations and innovative biological tools change the way ecotoxicological risk assessment should be seen. A new research agenda is therefore needed.
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