Abstract
In the project we will develop and adapt effect-based monitoring tools and solution-focused assessment instruments for real-world exposure situations, characterized by the presence of dozens of different chemicals. Results will provide the ground for the risk managements, necessary for achieving a good ecological status in Swedish coastal ecosystems. We will focus our experimental studies on the national reference site at Kvädöfjärden at the Baltic Sea coast, where a decline in the health status of natural coastal fish populations has been observed. The developed methodology will, however, be applicable in any costal zones in the Baltic and North Seas. The specific aims are to: 1. analyse contaminants present in perch and eelpout from Kvädöfjärden; 2. describe the changes in eelpout and perch gene expression under toxicant exposure, in order to assess the use of gene expression profiling as a tool for the effects-based monitoring and risk assessment of complex chemical exposures in coastal fish; 3. perform an eco-epidemiological study by tying together the knowledge on classical biomarker effects and gene expression profiles with chemical fingerprints, in order to describe the causal links between complex chemical exposure and effects in field fish populations; 4. provide a set of validated effect-based monitoring and assessment approaches to environmental authorities, in order to facilitate the solution-focussed risk assessment and management of coastal areas in Sweden.
Sweden