Key findings and recommendations for reaching the EU Water Framework Directive’s quality objectives

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the achievement of good ecological and chemical status in European river basins. However, evidence is increasing that a majority of European water bodies will not achieve this goal. Nutrient emissions and related eutrophication together with hydromorphological alterations have been suggested as the major driving forces of this insufficient ecological status. MODELKEY (511237 GOCE, FP6) provides strong evidence that toxic chemicals also affect the ecological status of European rivers. This was demonstrated in the case study rivers Elbe, Scheldt and Llobregat on different scales.This paper summarises key findings of MODELKEY including recommendations for WFD implementation. Weprovide evidence of toxic stress in aquatic ecosystems,provide evidence that impairment of ecological status results from impact of multiple stressors,suggest a tiered approach to assess impact of chemicals on ecological status,suggest a new approach for deriving candidate compounds for monitoring and prioritisation,call for consideration of bioavailability and bioaccumulation in chemical status assessments,suggest improvements for WFD water quality monitoring programmes,provide new integrated tools for basin-scale risk assessment and decision making,developed a Decision Support System to support river basin management.These key results will be presented in a series of ten integrated sections; for the scientific details please refer to publications listed on the MODELKEY website (http://www.modelkey.org/). This article also looks beyond MODELKEY and proposes a combination of MODELKEY diagnostic tools with recent ecological methods to further improve effectiveness of river basin management

Assessing the impact of chemical pollution on benthic invertebrates from three different European rivers using a weight-of-evidence approach

Wolfram G, Höss S, Orendt C, et al. Assessing the impact of chemical pollution on benthic invertebrates from three different European rivers using a weight-of-evidence approach. The Science of the Total Environment. 2012;438:498-509

A practical approach to increasing intakes of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: use of novel foods enriched with n-3 fats

ObjectivesTo assess the effects of providing a wide range of foodstuffs containing n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), occurring naturally or from fortification, on intake and blood and tissue proportions of n-3 PUFA.DesignBefore/after dietary intervention study.SettingAdelaide, Australia.Subjects16 healthy males recruited from the community.InterventionsSubjects were provided with a range of foodstuffs naturally containing n-3 PUFA (fresh fish, canned fish, flaxseed meal, canola oil) and items fortified with fish oil (margarine spread, milk, sausages, luncheon meat, french onion dip). Food choices were left to the discretion of each subject. Intake was estimated by diet diary. Blood was collected at-2, 0, 2, and 4 weeks for fatty acid analysis.Main outcome measuresDietary intakes; plasma, platelet, and mononuclear cell phospholipid fatty acids.ResultsConsumption of n-3 PUFA increased significantly: alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from 1.4 to 4.1 g/day (PConclusionIncorporating fish oil into a range of novel commercial foods provides the opportunity for wider public consumption of n-3 PUFA with their associated health benefits.SponsorshipDawes Scholarship, Royal Adelaide Hospital