AMPERA - Toxicity profiling of the major EU transported HNS and oil types (TOXPROF) - ERA - NET

The Oslo and Paris (OSPAR) Commission in 2006 requested that ICES, through the Working Group on the Biological Effects of Contaminants (WGBEC), consider and assess the long term impact of oil spills on marine and coastal life as requested from OSPAR and p rovide a guidance document on the use of biological effects techniques for oil spill situations. In addition to providing a background document (ICES WGBEC Report 2006), the working group concluded that research was required on the toxicity profiling of t he major oil types transported in a given region. Toxicological profiling / hazard identification using bioassays should be employed to determine the responses to the given oil types. The importance of undertaking this research is to establish the applica bility of biological effects techniques (bioassays and biomarkers) for risk assessment, management and policy purposes after oil spill accidents. The primary objective of this proposal is therefore to toxicologically profile the major oil types and Hazard ous and Noxious Substances (HNS) transported within EU waters using the suite of bioassays and biomarkers recommended by the ICES WGBEC. The proposal is closely aligned with the RAMOCS proposal and will provide data and use the same protocols where necess ary as RAMOCS in order to maximize synergy. TOXPROF and RAMOCS will as far as possible work on the same oils and HNS and all workshops will be common to the two projects. The project will be split into 5 work packages with the work will be performed throu gh a collaboration involving partners from Norway (NIVA and University of Oslo), the UK (Cefas), France (IFREMER) and Spain (IEO and CSIC). Quality assurance/control of the tests performed will be guaranteed through the testing since both Cefas and NIVA r un the BEQUALM (www.bequalm.org) QA/QC scheme for biological effects monitoring in the marine environment. The CVs of the lead researchers provide evidence of the group’s competance to fulfill this task and no further references are provided in this pre-p roposal.