Exposure determinants of cadmium in European mothers and their children.

The metal cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental pollutant with documented adverse effects on the kidneys and bones from long-term environmental exposure, but with insufficiently elucidated public health consequences such as risk of cardiovascular disease, hormone-related cancer in adults and developmental effects in children. This study is the first pan-European human biomonitoring project that succeeded in performing harmonized measurements of Cd in urine in a comparable way in mother-child couples from 16 European countries. The aim of the study was to evaluate the overall Cd exposure and significant determinants of Cd exposure. A study population of 1632 women (24-52 years of age), and 1689 children (5-12 years of age), from 32 rural and urban areas, was examined within a core period of 6 months in 2011-2012. Women were stratified as smokers and non-smokers. As expected, smoking mothers had higher geometric mean (gm) urinary cadmium (UCd; 0.24 µg/g crea; n=360) than non-smoking mothers (gm 0.18 µg/g crea; n=1272; p<0.0001), and children had lower UCd (gm 0.065 µg/g crea; n=1689) than their mothers at the country level. Non-smoking women exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at home had 14% (95% CI 1-28%) higher UCd than those who were not exposed to ETS at home (p=0.04). No influence of ETS at home or other places on UCd levels was detected in children. Smoking women with primary education as the highest educational level of the household had 48% (95% CI 18-86%) higher UCd than those with tertiary education (p=0.0008). The same observation was seen in non-smoking women and in children; however they were not statistically significant. In children, living in a rural area was associated with 7% (95% CI 1-13%) higher UCd (p=0.03) compared to living in an urban area. Children, 9-12 years had 7% (95% CI 1-13%) higher UCd (p=0.04) than children 5-8 years. About 1% of the mothers, and 0.06% of the children, exceeded the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) appointed by EFSA, corresponding to 1.0 µg Cd/g crea in urine. Poland had the highest UCd in comparison between the 16 countries, while Denmark had the lowest. Whether the differences between countries are related to differences in the degree of environmental Cd contamination or to differences in lifestyle, socioeconomic status or dietary patterns is not clear.

Policy recommendations and cost implications for a more sustainable framework for European human biomonitoring surveys.

The potential of Human Biomonitoring (HBM) in exposure characterisation and risk assessment is well established in the scientific HBM community and regulatory arena by many publications. The European Environment and Health Strategy as well as the Environment and Health Action Plan 2004-2010 of the European Commission recognised the value of HBM and the relevance and importance of coordination of HBM programmes in Europe. Based on existing and planned HBM projects and programmes of work and capabilities in Europe the Seventh Framework Programme (FP 7) funded COPHES (COnsortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale) to advance and improve comparability of HBM data across Europe. The pilot study protocol was tested in 17 European countries in the DEMOCOPHES feasibility study (DEMOnstration of a study to COordinate and Perform Human biomonitoring on a European Scale) cofunded (50%) under the LIFE+ programme of the European Commission. The potential of HBM in supporting and evaluating policy making (including e.g. REACH) and in awareness raising on environmental health, should significantly advance the process towards a fully operational, continuous, sustainable and scientifically based EU HBM programme. From a number of stakeholder activities during the past 10 years and the national engagement, a framework for sustainable HBM structure in Europe is recommended involving national institutions within environment, health and food as well as European institutions such as ECHA, EEA, and EFSA. An economic frame with shared cost implications for national and European institutions is suggested benefitting from the capacity building set up by COPHES/DEMOCOPHES.

First steps toward harmonized human biomonitoring in Europe: demonstration project to perform human biomonitoring on a European scale.

BACKGROUND: For Europe as a whole, data on internal exposure to environmental chemicals do not yet exist. Characterization of the internal individual chemical environment is expected to enhance understanding of the environmental threats to health. OBJECTIVES: We developed and applied a harmonized protocol to collect comparable human biomonitoring data all over Europe. METHODS: In 17 European countries, we measured mercury in hair and cotinine, phthalate metabolites, and cadmium in urine of 1,844 children (5-11 years of age) and their mothers. Specimens were collected over a 5-month period in 2011-2012. We obtained information on personal characteristics, environment, and lifestyle. We used the resulting database to compare concentrations of exposure biomarkers within Europe, to identify determinants of exposure, and to compare exposure biomarkers with health-based guidelines. RESULTS: Biomarker concentrations showed a wide variability in the European population. However, levels in children and mothers were highly correlated. Most biomarker concentrations were below the health-based guidance values. CONCLUSIONS: We have taken the first steps to assess personal chemical exposures in Europe as a whole. Key success factors were the harmonized protocol development, intensive training and capacity building for field work, chemical analysis and communication, as well as stringent quality control programs for chemical and data analysis. Our project demonstrates the feasibility of a Europe-wide human biomonitoring framework to support the decision-making process of environmental measures to protect public health.

Identifying a role for human biomonitoring in incidents involving hazardous materials.

Human biological monitoring (HBM) is an established method for chemical exposure characterization. Over the past few years HBM complemented environmental modelling and measurement strategies in several large scale chemical incidents in Belgium and Germany. These applications showed biomarkers to persist in body fluids, allowing sample collection to start in the aftermath of the incident. In addition, integration of exposure over time and from different routes and sources of exposure were reflected in HBM results. Especially adducts to hemoglobin were used to study exposures of workers and of the general population in retrospect. HBM results confirmed the exposure, sometimes pointing to a-typical sources and routes of exposure, not foreseen in incident scenarios. As a next step in Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands guidelines were prepared to support a role for HBM in the response to chemical incidents. Current practices indicate that the interpretation of HBM outcome can still be improved, using refined sample collection strategies and reverse dose calculations to facilitate the use of available exposure standards in the interpretation of HBM results. Exchange of knowledge and experience as well as sharing technical resources will further strengthen the role of HBM in the response to public health incidents and disasters.

Inter- and intra-individual variation in urinary biomarker concentrations over a 6-day sampling period. Part 1: metals.

The aim of the current HBM-study is to further the understanding of the impact of inter- and intra-individual variability in HBM surveys as it may have implications for the design and interpretation of the study outcomes. As spot samples only provide a snapshot in time of the concentrations of chemicals in an individual, it remains unclear to what extent intra-individual variability plays a role in the overall variability of population-wide HBM surveys. The current paper describes the results of an intensive biomonitoring study, in which all individual urine samples of 8 individuals were collected over a 6-day sampling period (a total of 352 unique samples). By analyzing different metals (As, Cd, Mn, Ni) in each individual sample, inter- and intra-individual variability for these four metals could be determined, and the relationships between exposure, internal dose, and sampling protocol assessed. Although the range of biomarker values for different metals was well within the normal range reported in large-scale population surveys, large intra-individual differences over a 6-day period could also be observed. Typically, measured biomarker values span at least an order of magnitude within an individual, and more if specific exposure episodes could be identified. Fish consumption for example caused a twenty- to thirty-fold increase in urinary As-levels over a period of 2-6h. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were typically low for uncorrected biomarker values (between 0.104 and 0.460 for the 4 metals), but improved when corrected for creatinine or specific gravity (SG). The results show that even though urine is a preferred matrix for HBM studies, there are certain methodological issues that need to be taken into account in the interpretation of urinary biomarker data, related to the intrinsic variability of the urination process itself, the relationship between exposure events and biomarker quantification, and the timing of sampling. When setting up HBM-projects, this expected relationship between individual exposure episode and urinary biomarker concentration needs to be taken into account.

Inter- and intra-individual variation in urinary biomarker concentrations over a 6-day sampling period. Part 2: personal care product ingredients.

An intensive study was conducted to provide data on intra- and inter-individual variation in urinary excretion of a series of ingredients in personal care products (parabens, triclosan, benzophenones) and bisphenol A (BPA, not expected to be an ingredient) in 8 volunteers over 6 days. Exposure diaries recorded use of personal care products with identified target analytes as ingredients. Participants' usual products were replaced with products without the target analytes for 2 of the 6 days. Urine void volumes and times were recorded. Methyl, ethyl, and n-propylparabens, triclosan, benzophenone-3, and BPA were frequently detected (≥70% of samples). Urinary concentrations of the parabens and triclosan were lower on product replacement days. First morning void concentrations correlated moderately to highly with 24-h composite concentrations for all analytes. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for spot samples collected on days with usual product use were low for BPA (0.15), moderate for n-propylparaben and methylparaben (0.39 and 0.56, respectively), and high for ethylparaben, benzophenone-3, and triclosan (0.76, 0.81, and 0.934, respectively); ICCs were consistently higher on the basis of cr-adjusted concentrations. Hydration status adjustment methods were assessed by comparing unadjusted and adjusted concentrations to urinary excretion rates (ER, ng/kg-h) for all analytes and samples. Specific gravity-adjusted concentrations correlated slightly better with ER than creatinine-adjusted concentrations. Within-individual variation in biomarker concentrations was highest for methyl and ethylparabens (2 orders of magnitude variation in spot sample concentrations) and lower for the other analytes (1-1.5 orders of magnitude). This dataset provides insight into the design and interpretation of urinary biomonitoring studies for non-persistent chemicals.

Perspectives for environment and health research in Horizon 2020: dark ages or golden era?

The European Commission recently published the first calls for proposals for the Horizon 2020 (H2020) work programme for research and innovation. When browsing through the Health programme, it became apparent that the work programme made little reference to environmental health research. In this commentary we describe major milestones of environmental health research in previous European Framework Programmes and the policy shift that took place when preparing H2020. We introduce mobile health technologies as a niche innovation to reconcile the environmental health research arena with the H2020 programme that has a clear focus on ICT. The recent economic crises urged strong policy action to reinforce Europe's economic and innovation leadership. Market-driven and job-creating ambitions became primary goals of H2020. Environmental health-related keywords referring to, e.g. human biomonitoring, exposure assessment or exposome are absent in the current H2020-calls and this may suggest a lack of opportunities for environmental health researchers. Technologies related to mobile healthcare (mhealth) are rapidly maturing and offer new research and market opportunities. In a typically technology-pushed market, these sensor technologies however require validation by a third-party and implementation in large-scale public health monitoring studies. Also, issues related to data protection need further development to warrant user rights and privacy. If the European environmental health research arena succeeds in embracing these new mhealth sensor technologies, it may not only create an opportunity to play a role as a key innovation partner in health transition technologies, but it may also support authorities to realize a transition in our healthcare with a much bigger emphasis on a preventive and sustainable system.

Key aspects of a Flemish system to safeguard public health interests in case of chemical release incidents.

Although well-established protocols are available for emergency services and first-responders in case of chemical release incidents, a well-developed system to monitor and safeguard public health was, until recently, lacking in Flanders. We therefore developed a decision support system (DSS) to aid public health officials in identifying the appropriate actions in case of incidents. Although the DSS includes human biomonitoring as one of its key instruments, it also goes well beyond this instrument alone. Also other, complementary, approaches that focus more on effect assessment using in vitro toxicity testing, indirect exposures through the food chain, and parallel means of data collection (e.g. through ecosurveillance or public consultation), are integrated in the Flemish approach. Even though the DSS is set up to provide a flexible and structured decision tree, the value of expert opinion is deemed essential to account for the many uncertainties associated with the early phases of technological incidents. When the DSS and the associated instruments will be fully operational, it will provide a valuable addition to the already available protocols, and will specifically safeguard public health interests.

Sources of variability in biomarker concentrations.

Human biomonitoring has become a primary tool for chemical exposure characterization in a wide variety of contexts: population monitoring and characterization at a national level, assessment and description of cohort exposures, and individual exposure assessments in the context of epidemiological research into potential adverse health effects of chemical exposures. The accurate use of biomonitoring as an exposure characterization tool requires understanding of factors, apart from external exposure level, that influence variation in biomarker concentrations. This review provides an overview of factors that might influence inter- and intraindividual variation in biomarker concentrations apart from external exposure magnitude. These factors include characteristics of the specific chemical of interest, characteristics of the likely route(s) and frequency of exposure, and physiological characteristics of the biomonitoring matrix (typically, blood or urine). Intraindividual variation in biomarker concentrations may be markedly affected by the relationship between the elimination half-life and the intervals between exposure events, as well as by variation in characteristics of the biomonitored media such as blood lipid content or urinary flow rate. Variation across individuals may occur due to differences in time of sampling relative to exposure events, physiological differences influencing urinary flow or creatinine excretion rates or blood characteristics, and interindividual differences in metabolic rate or other factors influencing the absorption or excretion rate of a compound. Awareness of these factors can assist researchers in improving the design and interpretation of biomonitoring studies.

Sensitizing events as trigger for discursive renewal and institutional change in Flanders' environmental health approach, 1970s-1990s.

BACKGROUND: Sensitizing events may trigger and stimulate discursive renewal. From a discursive institutional perspective, changing discourses are the driving force behind the institutional dynamics of policy domains. Theoretically informed by discursive institutionalism, this article assesses the impact of a series of four sensitizing events that triggered serious environmental health concerns in Flanders between the 1970s till the 1990s, and led onto the gradual institutionalization of a Flemish environmental health arrangement. METHODS: The Policy Arrangement Approach is used as the analytical framework to structure the empirical results of the historical analysis based on document analysis and in-depth interviews. RESULTS: Until the 1990s, environmental health was characterized as an ad hoc policy field in Flanders, where agenda setting was based on sensitizing events - also referred to as incident-driven. Each of these events contributed to a gradual rethinking of the epistemological discourses about environmental health risks and uncertainties. These new discourses were the driving forces behind institutional dynamics as they gradually resulted in an increased need for: 1) long-term, policy-oriented, interdisciplinary environmental health research; 2) policy coordination and integration between the environmental and public health policy fields; and 3) new forms of science-policy interactions based on mutual learning. These changes are desirable in order to detect environmental health problems as fast as possible, to react immediately and communicate appropriately. CONCLUSIONS: The series of four events that triggered serious environmental health concerns in Flanders provided the opportunity to rethink and re-organize the current affairs concerning environmental health and gradually resulted into the institutionalization of a Flemish environmental health arrangement.

Approaches to integrated monitoring for environmental health impact assessment.

Although Integrated Environmental Health Monitoring (IEHM) is considered an essential tool to better understand complex environmental health issues, there is no consensus on how to develop such a programme. We reviewed four existing frameworks and eight monitoring programmes in the area of environmental health. We identified the DPSEEA (Driving Force-Pressure-State-Exposure-Effect-Action) framework as most suitable for developing an IEHM programme for environmental health impact assessment. Our review showed that most of the existing monitoring programmes have been designed for specific purposes, resulting in narrow scope and limited number of parameters. This therefore limits their relevance for studying complex environmental health topics. Other challenges include limited spatial and temporal data availability, limited development of data sharing mechanisms, heterogeneous data quality, a lack of adequate methodologies to link disparate data sources, and low level of interdisciplinary cooperation. To overcome some of these challenges, we propose a DPSEEA-based conceptual framework for an IEHM programme that would enable monitoring and measuring the impact of environmental changes on human health. We define IEHM as 'a systemic process to measure, analyse and interpret the state and changes of natural-eco-anthropogenic systems and its related health impact over time at the same location with causative explanations across the various compartments of the cause-effect chain'. We develop a structural work process to integrate information that is based on existing environmental health monitoring programmes. Such a framework allows the development of combined monitoring systems that exhibit a large degree of compatibility between countries and regions.

Framework for the development and application of environmental biological monitoring guidance values.

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is widely recognised as a useful tool to aid assessment of exposure to chemical substances, but our ability to detect hazardous substances (or their metabolites and health effects) often exceeds our understanding of their biological relevance. There are only a few established frameworks for developing and using occupational and environmental biological guidance values (BGVs), mostly for data-rich substances that have been in use for some time. BGVs for new substances and those with unknown dose-response relationships are difficult to derive. An accepted framework based on current scientific knowledge and best practice is therefore urgently needed to help scientists, regulators, and stakeholders to design appropriate HBM studies, interpret HBM data (both for groups and individuals) understand the limitations and to take appropriate action when required. The development and application of such a tool is described here. We derived a conceptual framework that was refined by consultation with an advisory group and workshop. The resulting framework comprised four levels defined by increasing data, with increasing confidence for human health risk assessment. Available data were used for 12 chemicals with expert judgement to illustrate the utility of the framework.

Biomonitoring and biomarkers to unravel the risks from prenatal environmental exposures for later health outcomes.

An increasing number of studies have addressed the concern that environmental pollutants may contribute to the early origin of diseases. Epidemiologic studies suggest that prenatal exposure to air pollutants, several food contaminants, and chemicals present in consumer products are associated with nongenetically transmitted adverse health effects, which manifest after birth. Changes in neurobehavior, sexual development, the prevalence of asthma and allergy, and growth curves have been shown to be associated with pollutant exposure at early life stages. This review focuses on human molecular epidemiologic studies that contribute knowledge by introducing biomarker measurements to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the relation between early life exposures and health outcome. It has been hypothesized that subtle effects induced by pollutant exposure during development can lead to functional deficits and altered programming, which leads to increased disease or dysfunction risk later in life. Biomarker analysis may provide sensitive tools to trace these subtle changes and obtain mechanistic insight about the causal pathway between external exposure and health effects in human population studies. Biomarkers of exposure can be measured in mothers before conception, during pregnancy, or after birth. Different biological tissues-such as peripheral or cord blood samples, hair samples, meconium, and urine-provide specific information that reflects the actual dose during pregnancy or at birth. Biomarkers of effect may include changes in hormone concentrations, oxidative stress variables, changes in gene expression levels, and epigenetic changes.

Copper toxicity in gibel carp Carassius auratus gibelio: importance of sodium and glycogen.

In general, copper is primarily an osmoregulatory toxicant to fish and Cu toxicity is thought to be related to the rate of sodium loss. Looking at a previous research it is striking that gibel carp, Carassius auratus gibelio, do not seem so susceptible to the first ionoregulatory shock phase of Cu exposure, but rather build up physiological disturbances slowly until mortality occurs. Since it was noted that gibel carp experience severe hypoxia under Cu exposure, we hypothesised that, besides the Na loss, the slow depletion of liver glycogen stores contributed equally to the collapse of physiological integrity. It is clear from our results that glycogen stores are being depleted in Cu exposed fish and that dead fish suffered more extensive glycogen losses compared to surviving fish, with liver glycogen levels of 125+/-8 mg g(-1) in dead fish compared to 230+/-13 mg g(-1) in surviving fish. However, changes in liver glycogen did not contribute significantly to mortality, while changes in whole body sodium and the rate of sodium loss did. Whole body Na levels dropped from 1111+/-48 microg g(-1) dry weight in control fish to 850+/-54 microg g(-1) in surviving fish and to 607+/-24 microg g(-1) in fish that had died resulting in Na loss rates of 1.25+/-0.22 microg g(-1) h(-1) and 3.39+/-0.19 microg g(-1) h(-1) in surviving and dead fish respectively. Our results support the finding that the rate of Na loss largely determines Cu toxicity in fish, even in resistant species.

Applicability of non-invasively collected matrices for human biomonitoring.

With its inclusion under Action 3 in the Environment and Health Action Plan 2004-2010 of the European Commission, human biomonitoring is currently receiving an increasing amount of attention from the scientific community as a tool to better quantify human exposure to, and health effects of, environmental stressors. Despite the policy support, however, there are still several issues that restrict the routine application of human biomonitoring data in environmental health impact assessment. One of the main issues is the obvious need to routinely collect human samples for large-scale surveys. Particularly the collection of invasive samples from susceptible populations may suffer from ethical and practical limitations. Children, pregnant women, elderly, or chronically-ill people are among those that would benefit the most from non-invasive, repeated or routine sampling. Therefore, the use of non-invasively collected matrices for human biomonitoring should be promoted as an ethically appropriate, cost-efficient and toxicologically relevant alternative for many biomarkers that are currently determined in invasively collected matrices. This review illustrates that several non-invasively collected matrices are widely used that can be an valuable addition to, or alternative for, invasively collected matrices such as peripheral blood sampling. Moreover, a well-informed choice of matrix can provide an added value for human biomonitoring, as different non-invasively collected matrices can offer opportunities to study additional aspects of exposure to and effects from environmental contaminants, such as repeated sampling, historical overview of exposure, mother-child transfer of substances, or monitoring of substances with short biological half-lives.

Cellular energy allocation in Hediste diversicolor exposed to sediment contaminants.

Environmental contaminants released into water tend to accumulate in sediment, leading to exposure for sediment-dwelling organisms. This study aimed to clarify whether chronic (56 d) exposure to a mixture of environmentally relevant concentrations of contaminants (tributyltin [TBT] and perfluorononanoic acid [PFNA]) spiked in clean sediment would affect the sediment-dwelling polychaete Hediste diversicolor. Endpoints were burial time, biomass change, and cellular energy allocation (CEA). Sediments were spiked with these two contaminants to produce different levels of contamination. Chemical analyses of the sediment following the exposure indicated that the spiking procedure was only partially successful and treatments were grouped into four categories according to contaminant concentrations: "background," "low," "moderate," and "high." No significant differences were found between treatments with respect to burial time, biomass change, or energy storage fractions (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) in the polychaetes. A significant increase in cellular respiration was found for polychaetes in "moderate" and "high" treatment groups compared to the "background" treatment group. This resulted in significantly lower cellular energy allocation values for "moderate" and "high" treatment groups compared to "background." Although the effects were not marked, the results show that sediment-dwelling organisms may be affected following chronic exposure to environmental contaminants. There is a need to clarify whether chronic exposures exert a negative effect on sediment-dwelling organisms.

A review on the practical application of human biomonitoring in integrated environmental health impact assessment.

Environmental health sciences focus on the link between the presence of contaminants in the environment and their relation with possible adverse health effects. Within this context, human biomonitoring (HBM) data have proven to be a valuable addition to, or have even surpassed, estimates of exposure based on environmental measures. Probably the main achievement of HBM data is that it provides an integrated overview of the pollutant dose any constituent is exposed to and incorporates bioaccumulation, excretion, half-life, and other potentially critical toxicokinetic parameters. In an integrated environmental health impact assessment framework, HBM serves as a pivotal point between environment and health, on the one hand leaning on environmental data to provide information on sources and pathways of exposure, and on the other hand clarifying hypotheses on the relationship between internal dose and prevalence of disease clusters. This study reflects the work performed in the INTARESE project (Integrated Assessment of Health Risk of Environmental Stressors in Europe). Because it was perceived that there was an overall lack of knowledge on the general methodology and potential application of HBM data in integrated environmental health impact assessment, an extensive review of literature was performed on past and current developments, potential, and applicability of HBM within the context of integrated environmental health impact assessment. This study covers three main topics that provide guidance for improved interpretation and application of HBM data: (1) sample collection and storage, (2) sample measurement, and (3) data interpretation. These main issues were discussed for 15 of the most common or relevant (classes of) chemicals. For more detailed information, the reader is pointed to the unabridged review (INTARESE, 2007), and consultation is available through the INTARESE web site (www.intarese.org).

Human biomonitoring and the INSPIRE directive: spatial data as link for environment and health research.

Recently, there has been a rapid gain of interest in the availability, applicability, and integration of different types of spatial data for environment and health issues. The INSPIRE Directive (Directive 2007/2/EC) aims at providing better and easily accessible spatial information in Europe for the formulation and implementation of community policy on the environment by triggering the creation of a European spatial information infrastructure that delivers integrated spatial information services to potential users. Human biomonitoring (HBM) significantly contributes to the already existing data on environment and health because of its specific nature of providing information on the internal dose of chemicals rather than their mere presence in different environmental compartments. However, due to the intrinsic nature of HBM data, a number of issues need to be dealt with if HBM data are to be used to its full capacity in a geographic information systems (GIS) environment and within the INSPIRE directive. The current article highlights some of these issues, and discusses a number of options to improve the geographical relevance of HBM data for their optimal use within the INSPIRE Directive framework. The main aim of this publication is to illustrate that HBM has a significant contribution to make to the INSPIRE Directive, although some kind of data aggregation will be necessary to protect individual privacy. If HBM data wants to have a significant contribution to spatial information used to assist policymaking and on the surveillance or tracking of the direct or indirect impact of such policies, the HBM data need to be compatible with other data collected within the other themes of the INSPIRE Directive.

Mode of action clustering of chemicals and environmental samples on the bases of bacterial stress gene inductions.

Over the years, environment and the human population have seen an increasing exposure to both existing and newly developed chemicals. It is generally accepted that at least some of those are toxic, albeit as pure compound or in combination with others. In response to a growing public awareness and scientific data, the new European chemicals legislation (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) is under implementation at the moment. As a consequence, during the coming years about 30,000 chemicals have to be assessed on their potential hazard for man and biota. Part of this assessment will be done using existing and new in vitro tests offering insight into the toxicity of chemicals and into their toxicological mode of action. This study presents data on a battery of 14 bacterial reporter gene assay allowing mode of action determination and statistical grouping of chemicals based on their induction profile. Gene induction results are used to group reference chemicals in a statistical cascade employing hierarchical tree and k-means clustering for initial grouping. Both complementary, yet mathematically different, algorithms are consequently confirmed by principal component analysis (PCA). The gene induction profiles of an environmental extract with documented in vivo effects and a chemical with limited toxicological are data available and projected in the PCA vector space. The projection allows correct mode of action grouping and indicates that effect predictions based on the known toxicological effects of the reference compounds can be made.

Alterations in the energy budget of Arctic benthic species exposed to oil-related compounds.

We studied cellular energy allocation (CEA) in three Arctic benthic species (Gammarus setosus (Amphipoda), Onisimus litoralis (Amphipoda), and Liocyma fluctuosa (Bivalvia)) exposed to oil-related compounds. The CEA biomarker measures the energy budget of organisms by biochemically assessing changes in energy available (carbohydrates, protein and lipid content) and the integrated energy consumption (electron transport system activity (ETS) as the cellular aspect of respiration). Energy budget was measured in organisms subjected to water-accommodated fraction (WAF) of crude oil and drill cuttings (DC) to evaluate whether these compounds affect the energy metabolism of the test species. We observed significantly lower CEA values and higher ETS activity in G. setosus subjected to WAF treatment compared to controls (por=0.19). Different responses to oil-related compounds between the three test species are likely the result of differences in feeding and burrowing behavior and species-specific sensitivity to petroleum-related compounds.