AMPERA- IMPLEMENTATION OF RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES FOR OIL AND CHEMICAL SPILLS THE EUROPEAN MARINE ENVIRONMENT (RAMOCS) - ERA - NET

Objectives. This proposal establishes a multidisciplinary cooperation between leading European research groups of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), Norwegian Institute of Water Research (NIVA), V igo University (VU) and the Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR) in the field of risk assessment of oil and chemical spills in the marine environment. The primary objective of this proposal is to develop fingerprinting tool s for heavy oils and new products and to assess their risk in spills in different european regional seas scenarios. The proposal is closely aligned with the TOXPROF proposal and will provide data and use the same protocols where necessary as TOXPROF in or der 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 consortium brings together the expertise in environmental and analytical chemistry, ecotoxicology an d marine pollution, and aims at defining a European strategy for risk assessment of accidental marine pollution. The specific objectives are the following: i. To improve fingerprinting tools for heavy oil for source recognition in the marine environment. ii. To improve assessment tools for heavy oil weathering in the marine environment. iii. To develop strategies to assess the major weathering processes (dissolution, evaporation, photooxidation, biodegradation) affecting the spillage of hazardous noxious substances. iv. To develop methodologies for identifying the toxic species occurring in the spills by using bioassay-directed analysis. v. To establish toxicity thresholds of toxic components in sensitive species considering single and combined joint effe cts. vi. Application of the developed tools to several case studies and define a general strategy to be included in the response/contingency plans, for its use in a European dimension.