Indicators for Environmental Impact of Petrolium Activities: The Next Generation of Molecular Markers

Obtained results from the project has started to be comunicated to scientists and the community. Overall project idea were presented at ForskerStandUp, Stavanger, 2013 (September) WP 3 results were presented at 20th ICOS 2014 (International Conference of Organic Synthesis WP 1-2 results from the project were presented at: - the 5th NETS (Norwegian Environmental Toxicology Symposium), Stavanger (22-24 October 2014), and published in the Conference special issue of Journal of toxicology and Environmental Health (peer-reviewed). - the PRIMO 18th conference (Pollution Responses in Marine Organisms), Trondheim (24-27 May 2015). - the 6th NETS (Norwegian Environmental Toxicology Symposium), Oslo (25-27 October 2016). - the PRIMO 19th conference (Pollution Responses in Marine Organisms), Japan (30 June-3 July 2017). - A PhD course and workshop in Fish Toxicology in silico, Fiskebackskil, Sweden (14-18 August 2017).

Petroleum related activities are predominantly conducted in areas contiguous to the Norwegian coastlines and has recently been moved to more vulnerable ecosystems (e.g. Artic). Therefore, monitoring and assessment of water quality is essential in order to survey the impact for these activities. There is a need to develop even more sensitive methods for the overall understanding of the impact of oil and chemical contamination in the sea. Some of these compounds,i.e. PAHs, are well known carcinogens and mut agens and have been generally regarded as high priority for environmental pollution monitoring. In the last 10 years, IRIS in thigh collaboration with Norwegian operators (Norsk olje and gass) and other national research institutions, have developed and p erformed monitoring of the water column around a range of oil production fields in the North Sea. Enhanced knowledge will be generated in this project by developing new sensitive indicators that will give a better understanding of the impact of PAHs (dose response relationship, acute and long term response) in the marine environment. The technology developed in the project will also be suitable for conducting background surveys prior to start-up of oil production, thus providing baseline data. This is par ticularly relevant in regions just opened for oil production (e.g. Barents Sea), and areas under evaluation for exploration (e.g. Lofoten). In this project a top down proteomic approach is used. Identification of adducted proteins will be performed by usi ng nano liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/MS followed by subsequent search in the available genome database. This approach has already been used successfully at IRIS-Environment. This new high-tech applied method will offer the opportunity to increa se the understanding of the implications caused by PAHs exposure on fish. The knowledge established will also lead to non-invasive methods, very important for monitoring the marine environment in vulnerable areas.