6TH NORWEGIAN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY SYMPOSIUM (NETS)- Assessing and solving environmental challenges in a multiple stressor world

Engineered (manufactured) nanoparticles (ENPs) is considered stressors of emerging concern as are being released into the environment and may potentially represent a risk to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The ENPs are often present at the same time as other stressors in the environment, where they may affect the presence and effects of each other, and thus enhance the risk to organisms being exposed. The number of different stressors and their potential interactions introduce a complexity that can only be addressed by truly inter-disciplinary approaches and are seldom addressed in a sufficiently comprehensive manner. With the potential that the development and use of ENPs may challenge existing approaches to safeguard the environment will likely require substantial effort from the scientific and regulatory community and increase as the use of nanotechnology increase in the future. The 6th Norwegian Environmental Toxicology Symposium (NETS) aims to establishing national and international networks of competence, secure sufficient recruitment to and development of research and regulatory communities establish collaborative platforms and discussion fora to ensure that we can meet these challenges. The 3-day symposium will be organized autumn 2016 in the Oslo Science Park and will host approx. 150 scientists from Norway and abroad, and include representatives from research, industry and the regulatory community. The themes of NETS will include 1) priority and emerging pollutants, 2) nanoparticles and microplastics, 3) ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, 4) multiple stressors, 5) effect assessment, 6) environmental monitoring and management, 6) urban to sensitive environments and 7) multiple stressors and environmental interactions, and will provide a truly multi-disciplinary initiative to address the complex issues related to pollutants including ENPs and multiple stressors.