To identify the most likely ECs occurring in the water column of the selected estuarine and coastal zones .
To estimate the exposure of target organisms to ECs and to assess the most likely effects .
To estimate the fraction of the most likely emerging contaminant that is available in the food chain and to end consumers (bioaccesibility and bioavailability) .
Tasks
Screening analysis of water and biota samples to identify hot-spots and priorize ECs.
Validated methods of analysis of target contaminants in water and biota to monitor the concentration of ECs in mussels.
Uptake calibration of passive samplers (PSs) according to the polarity of the target contaminants to estimate the bioavailable fraction.
The body burden of ECs and transformation products.
Exposure biomarkers to diagnose the type of effect (endocrine disruption, intersex, ....), and the metabolomic profiles to distinguish exposure levels and eventually to identify some mechanisms of toxicity.
PBET assays will be carried out through the development of validated batchwise oral bioaccessibility and miniaturized dynamic flow-through methods in seafood and fish and the automation of the gastrointestinal extraction process.
Develop 3D dispersion models of ECs in Galician Rias for backtracking the contaminants detected in the molluscs and fishes to potential contamination sources
