Chairs: Beate Escher, Peta Neale and Fred Leusch

Our extensive use of organic chemicals, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products and industrial compounds, means that these compounds and their transformation products are present in a range of different environmental matrices, include water, air, soil and biota, including humans. Targeted chemical analysis alone may only detect a fraction of these chemicals. Complementary to chemical analysis, cell-based in vitro bioassays or bioanalytical tools can be applied to assess the biological effect of chemicals in a sample. Furthermore bioassays may indicate the presence of active chemicals not detected by chemical analysis but they cannot identify or resolve the individual components. Most importantly, bioanalytical tools have the advantage that they can take into account the mixture effects of all chemicals in a sample.

The proposed session will focus on the application of bioanalytical tools in a range of environmental matrices including water (e.g. drinking water, surface water, wastewater), sediment, soil, air, biota (e.g., wildlife and humans) and food. This includes, but is not limited to, studies linking bioanalytical assessment with chemical analysis, development and validation of new bioanalytical tools, sampling and dosing strategies and working towards the regulatory acceptance of bioanalytical tools. Both platform and poster presentations are welcome.

Chair: Marcelo Barros

A bulk of data has shown an ubiquitous participation of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) in several toxicological events induced by natural and anthropogenic pollutants in terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Undoubtedly, the overproduction of ROS/RNS in living organsims - if not properly counteracted by antioxidant responses - is the molecular basis of many degenerative and pathological processes diagnosed in animals and plants. This physiological redox imbalance is known as "oxidative stress".

Regarding the aquatic biota, the strong relationship between pollutants, such as heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbonates, endocrine disrupters, ozone, etc., and ROS/RNS production in animals and photosynthesizing organisms has already been determined. Accurate biomarkers in aquatic animals, plants, algae, and phytoplancton have been investigated in order to provide a precise and, perhaps, a premature diagnosis of an impacted aqueous environment. Among several ROS/RNS, hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide (H2O2 and NO., respectively) are getting more and more interest from researchers worldwide, since these redox-active molecules are small, uncharged and freely-diffusible metabolites (from intracellular compartments) throughout biological membranes to finally reach the aqueous millieu (seawater or freshwater). Therefore, H2O2 and NO are increasingly suggested as putative redox signals in aqueous environments, even considering interspecies communication.

The aim of this session is to present the state-of-art research regarding oxidative stress in aquatic organisms (animals, plants, algae and phytoplankton) impacted by natural or anthropogenic pollutants, focusing on H2O2 and NO participation in toxic responses, antioxidant adaptation, and interspecies communication.

Chair: Jinhee Choi

There is growing evidence that environmental pollution may affect organisms beyond exposed generations. Evidences on multi- and transgenerational impact of environmental pollution are accumulating across diverse organisms, populations and species. Epigenetics study, an emerging field in environmental toxicology, may provide substantial insight how environmental pollution affects subsequent unexposed generations. The term “Epigenetics” is typically described as the phenomenon whereby changes in gene expression occur without direct changes to DNA sequence itself. DNA methylation, histone modification and non-cording RNAs are identified as major epigenetic mechanisms and changes on these processes are typically heritable being passed on through cell division through the generations. Indeed, there are growing scientific evidences indicate disturbance of epigenetic mechanisms by various environmental stressors and potentially persistent nature of these environmentally induced epigenetic modifications. However, researches on implication of epigenetics in toxicology mostly involve in human, rodent models or human cell lines but studies of epigenetics in ecotoxicological context are still very limited. Therefore, this session will address the evidence of multi- and transgenerational effect of environmental pollution, and involvement of epigenetic mechanism in this process in ecotoxicologically relevant species. Tools, methods and model to accurately measure this process will also be addressed in this session. This approach will help to provide scientific guidance to integrate transgenrational effect and epigenetic data in future ecological risk assessment.

Chair: Xiaowei Zhang

Recent development of environmental "-omics" has significantly demonstrated its values in assessing the effects of contaminants on individual species and the whole community. In toxicogenomic research, investigators commonly look at virtually all DNA (genomics), RNA (transcriptomics), proteins (proteomics) or metabolites (metabolomics) in congress to study the molecular mechanisms of toxicity caused by chemicals. In the field, high-throughput genomics can also provide access to rapid, dynamic information on the deep structure of eco communities. Specifically, metagenomics of macro-biome provides utilities to unveil those areas of ‘dark diversity’ that until now have proved resistant to practical observation, while the integration of metatranscritomics provides an exciting prospect of linking these structural observations to broad-scale observations of function at the assemblage level. These emerging methodologies using genome enabled approaches provides the opportunity to examine effects and mechanisms of chemicals in individual species and the whole community compositional from both prospective and retrospective manners. In this session, papers describing the application of the approaches to ecotoxicology and ecology will be presented. Especially, how to integrate of results of environmental omics to support science-based policy for ecosystem management will be discussed.

Chair: Kathrine Daffron

Contents in Development

Chair: Asif Qureshi

Mercury is a toxic pollutant of global concern, and its importance to environmental and human impacts is now formally acknowledged in the Minamata Convention for mercury. In India and China, Asia has two of the world’s largest emitter of mercury to atmosphere. Additionally, many other countries (for example, Indonesia) have environmental and human health problems due to artisanal scale gold mining. Countries in East and South East Asia have a very big fisheries industry and fish consuming population, which exposes them to mercury via the dietary exposure. As such, Asia is important both as an emitter and as a receiver of mercury pollution. This proposed session will focus on current developments on mercury research in Asia. Sub topics will include new or revised information on emission inventories, atmospheric mercury and reactions, aquatic mercury chemistry and contamination, bioaccumulation, and human health impact studies. Modelling or statistical studies that analyze this information for implication(s) to regional or global cycling, elucidate past and future trends, or may help shape policy decisions will also be encouraged.

Chairs: Guang-Guo Ying and Paul J. Van den Brink

A variety of organic compounds are used as the ingredients in home and personal care products (HPCPs) for diverse functions. For instance, biocides such as parabens, triclocarban (TCC) and triclosan (TCS) are widely used in personal hygiene products and cosmetics as preservatives or antimicrobials. Benzotriazoles (BTs) are used as anti-corrosives in dishwasher detergents and anti-icing fluids, while ultraviolet (UV) filters are commonly used in cosmetic formulation such as sunscreens, skin care, facial makeup and lip care products. After use, these chemicals are discharged with domestic wastewater into the receiving environment directly without any treatment or indirectly after sewage treatment processes. As emerging contaminants, HPCP ingredients have drawn considerable attention in recent years because of increasing concerns over their potential adverse impacts on human health and aquatic organisms. Therefore, it is essential to understand their presence, behaviour and ecological risks in the environment. This session invites abstracts on the occurrence, fate, effects and ecological risks of HPCPs in the aquatic environment. While an increasing amount of studies become available on the occurrence and fate of the HCPCs in the aquatic environment, their chronic toxicity to aquatic organisms is less studied. We especially invite people to submit research output from Asia Pacific, but results from other geographical regions are welcome as well.

Chairs: Dayanthi Nugegoda and Anu Kumar

Biota in the environment are constantly being exposed to exogenous chemicals that are known to interfere with their endocrine system and thereby cause adverse effects. These Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) include industrial chemicals and Pharmaceuticals from anthropogenic sources. Many of these chemicals enter the aquatic environment in effluents from industry and wastewater treatment plants. This session will focus on the effects of these EDCs and pharmaceuticals on wildlife with an emphasis on aquatic species that are constantly exposed in their habitat; and their biological responses to exposure. Papers evaluating biomarkers of exposure and effect in field and laboratory studies, at the physiological, biochemical and genomic level, and predicting risk to species and populations from exposure to these chemicals are particularly encouraged.

Chair: Barry C. Kelly

Exposure characterization is a key component of ecological risk assessment. Contaminant exposure is characterized by evaluating sources and emissions, distribution and concentrations in the environment, as well as the processes that occur at the interface between the environmental medium containing the contaminant and ecological receptors. The latter component, bioaccumulation, is particularly important, as the extent of chemical uptake and the resulting internal concentration at a target site governs toxic effects. The relationship between external concentrations (or dose) and internal tissue residue concentrations is complex and differs between chemicals and organisms. Bioaccumulation and exposure assessment studies typically involve a combination of external measurements of contaminant concentrations, as well as determination of the contaminant in organism tissues and/or biofluids. In addition, regulatory agencies utilize bioaccumulation and exposure science for prioritization and screening for persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (i.e., PBT) substances. Bioaccumulation metrics such as bioconcentration factors (BCFs), bioaccumulation factors (BAFs), biomagnification factors (BMF) and trophic magnification factors (TMF), which can be derived from laboratory or field studies, provide a measure of a chemical’s bioaccumulation potential in organisms and/or food chains. Toxicokinetic data (i.e, Absorption-Distribution-Metabolism-Excretion, i.e. ADME) is equally important to understand bioaccumulation and exposure dynamics. This session invites speakers to present new findings of laboratory (in vitro, in vivo, mesocosm) and/or field investigations of bioaccumulation and exposure assessment of chemical contaminants. The session aims to provide risk assessment professionals, academics and the public a forum to share and discuss new information and tools related to bioaccumulation and exposure assessment of chemical stressors in the environment.

Chair: Rajasekha Balasubramanian

Over the last decade, a great deal of evidence has shown that airborne particulate matter (PM) plays a strong role in patterns of morbidity and mortality among urban populations. PM with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) has been implicated in eliciting negative human health effects in exposed individuals, particularly in more vulnerable persons such as children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems and/or pre-existing health problems. PM2.5 and its ultrafine fraction (PM with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 100 nm) contain a vast number of chemical compounds, ranging from metals to organic constituents. The chemical composition of PM can vary significantly over time and space, and may be associated with certain sources such as traffic, industry and forest fires. Currently, most countries base their air quality policies and regulations on the measured mass of ambient PM2.5. As the toxicity of the various constituents of PM2.5 is likely to vary significantly, with some of the most toxic ones contributing little to the overall PM mass, the current regulations may not be the most effective way to minimize health risks among exposed populations. We welcome submissions for both oral and poster presentations addressing sources, composition, environmental fate and transformation, bioavailability and toxicology of PM.

Chair: Oliver Price

Quantification of the dose-response relationship plays a critical role in the risk assessment process, and in particular depends on robust tools aimed at assessing exposure, the importance of which is highlighted in a document recently published by the National Academy of Sciences (Exposure Science in the 21st Century). The report identifies a number of activities highlighted as new opportunities for exposure science. These include the development of state-of-the-art methods and technologies to measure exposures, both external and internal, as well as the developments in geographic information science and technologies that are leading to rapid adoption of novel tools for improved characterization of spatially resolved exposure concentrations, and informatics activities that are leading to the development of an ExposCast Database, the objective of which is to archive measurements from human exposure studies and to support standardized reporting of observational exposure information. Given the potential of developments in science and technology to lead to improved quantification of exposure, which will ultimately lead to a more scientifically robust risk assessment process, the NRC report proposes a vision for exposure science in the 21st Century. The vision for exposure science is to adopt a strategy that incorporates an integrated approach that considers exposures from source to dose, on multiple levels of integration (including time, space, and biologic scale), to multiple stressors, and scaled from molecular systems to individuals, populations, and ecosystems. The goal of this session is to highlight advances within the SETAC community in exposure science. Examples of relevant topics include, but are not limited to, models of source-to-concentration relationships in defined systems, models to estimate overall persistence and long-range transport potential of contaminants, models of bioaccumulation of contaminants by individual organisms or in food webs, models of human exposure to chemicals, biological agents or nanomaterials by multiple pathways, and pharmacokinetic models of the distribution of chemicals, biological agents and nanomaterials in the bodies of exposed humans or animals. Presentations that also address advances leading to improved emission estimates are also particularly welcome.

Chair: Jung-Hwan Kwon

Growing use of plastic materials led to a large amount of plastic debris in the environment. Although plastics are regarded as inert materials, concerns have been raised about the small-sized plastic particles found in the environment. Microplastics in the environment are thought to be formed through natural weathering processes or released from products containing small-sized plastic particles. Existence of microplastics attracted public concerns because potential harmful effects of microplastic particles and associated chemical contaminants on human and ecological health are suspected. In this session, recent scientific advances on the evaluation of potential risks posed by existing microplastics will be shared and discussed. Specific topics include but not limited to: the occurrence of microplastics in the marine and freshwater environment, fate and transport of microplastic particles, natural weathering processes of bigger plastic debris to microplastics, sorption/desorption processes of environmental pollutants and additives, effects on ecosystems both in a laboratory and in the field.

Chair: Youn-Joo An

Nanomaterials can be released to water and soil ecosystems through various exposure routes. They may accumulate in organisms, and may be transferred from low-level to high-level organisms. Finally, they may reach to humans via the food chain, and induce adverse health effect of human by dietary routes. Some studies have observed the food chain transfer of nanomaterials in environments, however, extensive further studies about trophic transfer of nanomaterials are needed to better understanding their fate and effects in ecosystems. Through this session, we hope to demonstrate recent updates in the trophic transfer of nanomaterials. We also hope to show that the speakers will cover a range of recent researches on the fate and effect of nanomaterials

Chairs: Jung-Hwan Kwon, Yutaka Kameda

Passive sampling is a promising method to measure the freely dissolved concentration of organic contaminants in the environment. Because the freely dissolved concentration is considered as the effective concentration for environmental partitioning, bioaccumulation, and toxicity, monitoring the environmental levels of organic chemicals using passive sampling is advantageous over conventional monitoring methods measuring the total concentration. Passive dosing, the reverse of passive sampling, is an emerging method by which a constant exposure condition is maintained for hydrophobic organic chemicals. In this session, we will share recent advances in passive sampling and dosing areas. Specific topics include but are not limited to: the use of passive sampling techniques to assess freely dissolved concentrations, environmental monitoring of organic contaminants using passive sampling, the use of passive dosing method for assessing toxicity of hydrophobic chemicals and mixtures, and the evaluation of bioavailability of organic contaminants. Both experimental and modeling approaches are welcome.

Chair: Hian Kee Lee

The session on Environmental Analytical Chemistry will consist of talks on the application of current analytical techniques to study environmental contaminants. There will also be presentations on new developments in environmental analytical chemistry relating to sampling, sample preparation and treatment, separation and detection techniques.

Chairs: Ross Smith, Tham Hoang, Chris Schlekat

Bioavailability-based risk assessment for metals in aquatic and terrestrial systems has been the focus of substantial attention in northern temperate zones in recent years, but there has been relatively little attention in the tropics globally, and in the Asia Pacific region specifically. However, this area has a combination of high human population levels and population growth, rapidly expanding economies including increasing metal production and processing, metal consumption, such as for the hydroelectricity system along the Lower Mekong River Basin, and high natural biodiversity and unique ecosystem and climatic features that may make extrapolation of learnings from the higher latitudes to the tropics of this region inappropriate. This session, to be jointly chaired by A. Prof Tham Hoang, Loyola University Chicago, Dr Chris Schlekat, NiPERA, and Dr Ross Smith, Hydrobiology, will seek open submission of abstracts for platforms and posters and also invite selected presentation of key recent investigations known to have been undertaken in the region.

Chairs: Kenny Leung, Matthieu Duchemin

Ecosystems provide essential services to mankind by offering foods, water, air and other natural resources, recycling materials, regulating climate and so on. With the ever increasing human population and growing consumption of energy and natural resources, anthropogenic activities inevitably put various ecosystems of our planet Earth under unprecedented pressures including habitat loss and degradation, overharvesting and unsustainable use of natural resources, pollution, introduction of invasive species and climate change. These environmental pressures undermine the biodiversity, and critical functions and services of the ecosystem. Therefore, assessment and management of ecological risks associated with human activities and processes are central to sustainable development. Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) aims to provide a systematic and objective framework for both retrospective and prospective evaluation of ecological risks of the human activity or process of concern, and thereby avoid or minimize the risks. This session is dedicated to the disclosure of the advancement of ERA protocols and tools for different temporal and spatial scales, and foster participants to share their case studies and best practices in the field. The topics should not be limited to the release of chemical contaminants, but also cover a wider array of environmental threats like habitat alternation, overharvesting, biological invasion, and climate change. Topics on advanced statistics for risk quantification, and risk communication are also welcome. As there are many tropical countries located within the Asia-Pacific region, challenges and prospects of tropical ERA will be one of the main focuses while considering scenarios with multiple stressors. This session welcomes risk assessors, risk managers, decision makers, environmental consultants, academics and individuals with interest in ERA to join and present their latest discoveries and share their experience.

Chairs: Sankar Ganesh, Suresh Valiyaveettil

Miniaturization of materials at nanoscale has led to the production of nanomaterials with novel properties viz. size, charge and shape which differ from their bulk counterparts. They are extensively used in medicine, agriculture and personal care products. As a result, at the end of their life cycle, nanomaterials are entering various compartments of environment. In this context, exposure of flora and fauna to nanomaterials in the environment is imperative. But the questions pertaining to the environmental implications of nanomaterials are unanswered. Moreover, fate and behavior of nanomaterials in the environment with respect to their biotransformation, bioaccumulation and potential to induce toxicity in various sentinels is paramount to communicate nanospecific risks to the public and scientific community. Though there are several investigations on nanomaterial toxicity under in vivo and in vitro conditions, possible interaction of nanomaterials with environmental matrices and dose response of nanomaterial toxicity is lacking for promoting safety of nanotechnology. Moreover, analytical techniques that are specific to quantify nanomaterials in various environmental matrices and biological tissues/ fluids are meager. Therefore, methods and reference materials to characterize ‘nano’ properties are still in the phase of development. Hence, metrics that are to be used to assess the toxicological potential of nanomaterials is gaining attention in nanotoxicology research. In this regard, it is essential to discuss new paradigms that can address various challenges associated with the toxicological risk assessment of nanoparticles in the environment, for safety promotion of nanotechnology.

Chair: Chris Metcalfe

Aquaculture production in Asia accounts for the majority of global aquaculture production. Freshwater aquaculture in the region is dominated by the culture of species of carp, tilapia and catfish, while brackish water aquaculture is dominated by the production of penaeid shrimp and other crustaceans. High intensity aquaculture is possible because of the use of chemicals to control sediment and water quality and the use of antimicrobial and antifungal compounds and parasiticides to treat or control disease. Currently, there is little known about the amounts and types of chemicals used in Asian aquaculture, or the fate and effects of these chemicals in freshwater or brackish water environments. This session at the SETAC Asia/Pacific meeting will provide an opportunity for researchers to share their data and knowledge on this important topic, and will generate interest in further studies to assess the environmental risks associated with the chemicals used in aquaculture in Asia.

Chair: Ross Smith

Indigenous peoples are key stakeholders in many environmental management decisions globally, and particularly in the Asia Pacific region where indigenous peoples range from disadvantaged minorities to the dominant cultural group within a country. Yet mechanisms to incorporate their knowledge and values into decision making have been poorly formulated in most legislatures and in SETAC's own development of assessment and management approaches.

This session proposal was initiated in response to an approach to the applicant from indigenous representatives at the SETAC Australasia conference in Nelson, New Zealand (2015), which overlapped with a research interest of the applicant and the proposed second chair, Prof. Peter Campbell (INRS-ETE, Canada).

We propose a mixture of invited papers, open abstract submissions and a discussion session to elucidate SETAC's activities in this area, and to discuss how best to progress SETAC's incorporation of indigenous knowledge and values into its activities.

Chairs: Alistair Boxall and Kyungho Choi

Over 50% of the World's population lives in cities and an additional 2 billion extra city residents is expected in the next 20 years. Increasing urbanization will result in increased pressures on air, water and soil quality and could result in adverse impacts on ecosystem and human health. However, our understanding of exposure to pollutants in cities and the impacts on health and the environment is still poorly developed. This is partly due to the fact that much of the pollution monitoring that is done in cities focuses on traditional contaminants and a few study sites. Novel approaches such as the use of wireless pollution sensing networks, crowdsourcing of environmental quality data, autonomous unmanned vehicles (e.g. drones and robots) and 3 dimensional city exposure models could allow us to much better understand the emissions and occurrence of pollutants at high temporal and spatial resolutions and to characterise the links between pollution exposure in cities and human and ecosystem health outcomes. This session will therefore provide a forum for presenting and discussing novel approaches for pollution monitoring and assessment in cities. Presentations could cover: new detection methods for priority pollutants in cities; novel monitoring approaches such as wireless networks and crowdsourcing; approaches for rapid analysis of big data on environmental pollution; novel city exposure modelling approaches; social and technological challenges of new monitoring technologies; and the role of novel technologies in decision making.

Chairs: Hongtao Wang, Bruce Vigon

Ensuring quality is key to establishing credibility of all life cycle approaches. This session encompasses not only quality assurance of LCA studies but also emerging national and international efforts on methods, procedures and criteria for quality and meta-information documentation in general. Submittals are requested for current efforts to establish, harmonize, increase consistency and road test aspects relating to meta-data and review at both the database and study level on conformance with indicators/criteria and (ISO) standards, data and study review, and database and network interoperability, including support tools.

Chairs: Olivier Jolliet or Rolf Frischknecht

Over the past 20 years many methods and models have emerged for characterizing potential environmental impacts associated with product and service systems in LCA. Although these approaches may have several elements in common, e.g. as modifiers to inventory flows that provide an impact category indicator result, there are many variations on the indicators, even within an impact category, and at the mid-point or end-point.

Recently, efforts have been focused on trying to provide more consistency and methodological rigor associated with the underlying scientific domains of various impact categories and indicators. Also, there is a benefit in having an umbrella framework under which all impact assessment categories and indicators would fit. One such effort is an ongoing project under the auspices of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative that resulted in a SETAC Pellston Workshop(TM) to address the cross-cutting (framework) issues and also methods and models in the first four impact categories (climate change, particulate matter inhalation toxicity, land use and water use).

Submittals from any of these task forces or related efforts to improve the practice of LCIA are sought.

Chair: Larry Kapustka

The SETAC Berlin Declaration (see below and for more information - https://www.setac.org/news/98348/Berlin-Declaration-on-Sustainability.htm) in 2012 established the commitment of SETAC to contribute to the global dialogue on sustainability. Sustainability continues to be invoked in many settings within SETAC. Yet awareness of the underpinnings of modern sustainability that are grounded in the principles of systems ecology and social justice is fleeting. The technical capacity within SETAC can be bought forward to inform many aspects of societies broad interests in sustainability. However, to do so requires deeper appreciation and understanding of not only the biophysical sciences that SETAC members possess, but also the several components of the social sciences as well – thus requiring participation in transdisciplinary approaches. The SETAC Asia-Pacific Annual Meeting in Singapore offers an opportunity for a substantive effort to elevate the dialogue toward implementing the Five Articles of the Berlin Declaration. This session seeks abstracts to explore regional challenges regarding implementation of sustainability practices and promote technical dialogue within SETAC in terms of the emerging and transformational science of sustainability, which may require transdisciplinary approaches that are bringing systems ecology, engineering, chemistry, economics, and other social sciences to the forefront in advancing goals of sustainability. Article 1. Promote the development and application of the sciences and tools that enable citizens and organizations to reduce their ecological footprint. Article 2. Promote resource-efficient economies that allow us to better manage natural resources in light of the increasing demands. Article 3. Cultivate the development of long-term perspectives for resource management and energy use that reflect the nested interrelationships of ecological systems, societies, and economies at local, regional, and global scales. Article 4. Promote respectful dialogue about the challenges of an ever increasing human population and the inalienable rights of citizens to experience social equity and equal access to resources while protecting genetic and biological diversity. Article 5. Engage academic, business, governmental and non-governmental sectors in the pursuit of informed policies that promote continual improvement in our collective understanding of the direct linkages between ecological dynamics, global societies and human well-being.

Chairs: Ravinder Menon

Use of In Silico approaches toward environmental hazard assessment have become increasingly reliable with various (Q)SAR and other non-testing approaches available for use. The OECD QSAR Toolbox is an expert system available in the public domain, which can help predict endpoint values for a target chemical using the read-across approach involving structural analogues and/or specific (Q)SAR tools. Other tools such as EPI Suite and CATALOGIC are also available. While these approaches have the potential for savings of cost and time, it is important to note that predictions have to be validated according to the OECD principles for validation of (Q)SAR models to be acceptable for regulatory purposes.

The intent of this session is for presenters to discuss their experience with using (Q)SAR and related tools for regulatory and other purposes, both from a submitter and a regulator viewpoint. Of particular interest is where such tools have been used successfully for conducting PBT (Persistence, Bioaccumulation & Toxicity) assessment of new chemicals.

Chairs: Beate Escher, Peta Neale and Fred Leusch

Our extensive use of organic chemicals, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products and industrial compounds, means that these compounds and their transformation products are present in a range of different environmental matrices, include water, air, soil and biota, including humans. Targeted chemical analysis alone may only detect a fraction of these chemicals. Complementary to chemical analysis, cell-based in vitro bioassays or bioanalytical tools can be applied to assess the biological effect of chemicals in a sample. Furthermore bioassays may indicate the presence of active chemicals not detected by chemical analysis but they cannot identify or resolve the individual components. Most importantly, bioanalytical tools have the advantage that they can take into account the mixture effects of all chemicals in a sample. The proposed session will focus on the application of bioanalytical tools in a range of environmental matrices including water (e.g. drinking water, surface water, wastewater), sediment, soil, air, biota (e.g., wildlife and humans) and food. This includes, but is not limited to, studies linking bioanalytical assessment with chemical analysis, development and validation of new bioanalytical tools, sampling and dosing strategies and working towards the regulatory acceptance of bioanalytical tools. Both platform and poster presentations are welcome.