The Severn Estuary: Sediments, contaminants and biota. Occasional Publication of the Marine Biological Association 19

This report about the Severn Estuary provides an up to date appraisal of the following issues: Transport and fate of sediments; Transport, fate and trends in contaminants; Bioavailability of contaminants; Consequences for biota, and pinpoints the major knowledge gaps.

In vitro bioassays for the study of endocrine-disrupting food additives and contaminants

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are capable of interfering with normal hormone homeostasis by acting on several targets and through a wide variety of mechanisms. Unwanted exposure to EDCs can lead to a wide spectrum of adverse health effects, especially when exposure is during critical windows of development. Feed and food are considered to be among the main routes of inadvertent exposure to EDCs, so there is an important need for efficient detection of EDCs in these matrices.

Effects of the organophosphorous pesticide, dimethoate, on cardiac and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the shore crab Carcinus maenas

The potential use of biochemical and physiological responses as biomarkers of organophosphate exposure and/or effect were assessed in the shore crab (Carcinus maenas). Male crabs were assigned to one of four dimethoate treatments (0, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 mg 1(-1)). Cardiac activity was measured non-invasively before and during dimethoate exposure using automated interpulse duration assessment. Heart rates decreased significantly in a concentration-dependent manner (p

Detection of hazardous food contaminants by transcriptomics fingerprinting

Unprecedented biotechnological advances in the past decade have delivered powerful transcriptomics methods that provide new opportunities for a risk-based and, hence, more effective control of food quality and safety. The fundamental hypothesis underlying the application of a transcriptomics or other