ONE-BLUE

Research Directions:

Biomarkers and bioassays

Description:

ONE-BLUE's central aim is to fill gaps in knowledge about the presence, impacts, and risks of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) on different marine ecosystems and on marine biodiversity in a changing environment modulated by climate change (CC). It brings together 18 Institutions, 20 Research groups from 11 European countries and more than 100 researchers from different fields. ONE-BLUE will address the challenges by demonstrating an innovative effect-based monitoring system together with an integral assessment of the levels, fate, behavior, distribution, bioaccumulation, impacts, including biodiversity risks of CECs on the different marine ecosystems (surface waters, the water column and the sea floor). A battery of effect-based environmental monitoring, (using mechanism-specific in-vitro bioreporter assays, reactive toxicity, transgenerational effects (FET assay), developmental toxicity and genotoxicity conducted in an iceberg approach), will yield information about the presence of novel/unknown CECs in the studied samples. New approach methodologies (NAMs) in effect-based screening will be optimized for the marine environment. Moreover, toxicity tests with marine organisms aligned with OECD guidelines will be used and biophysical and biochemical ecotoxicity indexes for selected CECs will be established and studied with the simulation of some climate change stressors such as temperature, salinity and acidification. The information at the case study sites (i.e. Mediterranean Sea, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean) will be completed with studies under controlled conditions in marine mesocosms to provide an advanced understanding of possible interactions between climate change drivers (e.g., increased temperatures, salinity and pH) and the levels of CECs.