Acronym ECO-R-PHARMPLAST
Category
Fisheries
Title Ecotoxicity of realistic combinations of human drugs and microplastics in marine ecosystems Programme Nat. Programme (supported by ESIF)
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National-European Coordinator Bruno AFJ Silva Nunes Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (Portugal)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2018 End year 2022 Funding (€) € 225,897 Website https://www.cesam-la.pt/projetos/eco-r-pharmplast-ecotoxicidade-de-combinacoes-realistas-de-farmacos-de-uso-humano-e-microplasticos-em-ecossistemas-marinhos/ Summary Contamination by pharmaceutical drugs and, more recently, microplastics has emerged in recent decades and is now considered a serious threat to marine ecosystems. Pharmaceutical compounds are continuously released into the aquatic environment and can pose significant challenges to the exposed biota. Plastics are also dispersed especially in the marine environment, where they are reduced to small particles, contaminating organisms. However, microplastics may be responsible for a knock-on effect; Through the adsorption of a large number of hydrophobic compounds, including pharmaceutical drugs, microplastics act as preferred vectors for the dispersion of these compounds. Consequently, marine species that are used by humans as food are vectors for these contaminants. Despite this global scenario, the number of studies dealing with these specific forms of pollution is still scarce. This project aims to study contamination by specific drugs and microplastics, and by realistic combinations of the two types of pollutants. In order to achieve this goal, we will study the toxicological effects of the drugs ciprofloxacin, diazepam, paracetamol, caffeine, and carbamazepine at the biochemical level (neuroendocrine, metabolism, respiration, antioxidant defense and oxidative damage), lipid reserves and their management, bioaccumulation, genotoxicity, transcriptomic response and behavior of some key species of the Aveiro area, namely the polychaete Hediste diversicolor, the mollusk Mytillus galloprovincialis, the crustacean Carcinua maenas, and the fish Anguilla anguilla. A generic image of the effects of contamination on these species will also be obtained, which will be useful for the management of aquaculture facilities, established in specifically impacted areas such as the Ria de Aveiro. In addition, tissues of these species will be evaluated for their potential to serve for the establishment of cell pine cones in which it is possible to establish in vitro methods of toxicological evaluation, especially based on high-throughput flow cytometry methods. These methods will then be validated by exposing the organisms/cell lines to real effluent from a wastewater treatment plant. The validation of these methodologies will allow their proposal towards their integration into batteries of tests designed to monitor and control the quality of the water treatment process, in real time, and using relevant endpoints. The development and validation of these methods is aimed at establishing ready-to-use in vitro methods based on cells obtained from these organisms, which may be proposed to the industry in the future for a scale-up and commercialization process.
Keywords
Mussel;
Eel;
Bivalve;
Crustacean;
Toxic substances;
Impacts;
Microplastics;
Crab;
Mollusc;
Fish;
Protocol;
Shellfish;
Marine Region
38
Portuguese Waters (27.IXa,27.IXb)
1
Marine Region Map
