Integrated biological effects and chemical contaminants approach: a case study

The OSPAR Maritime Area receives chemical pressure from approximately 140 000 hazardous substances. In the context of global change, the in situ assessment of the biological effects of chemical contaminants has achieved significant progress in standardising methodology over the past decade. An integrated approach on the biological effects of chemical contaminants has been developed for monitoring. Three methodological criteria were applied: 1) Common reference methods, 2) Quality assurance, and 3) Chemical and biological effect thresholds. Effect thresholds (EAC: Environmental Assessment Criteria) and baseline levels (BAC: Background Assessment Concentration) are unique in ecotoxicology. They were produced from monitoring data collected in the OSPAR Maritime Area. The monitoring expertise shared by OSPAR Contracting Parties over the last ten years is illustrated here by different case studies carried out under voluntary national monitoring programmes, in both coastal and offshore areas, in sites with contrasted contamination patterns, and in the short and long term. They apply a combination of biomarkers and chemical contaminants from a core list of sentinel species that were selected according to their spatial distribution (cod, herring, sole, eelpout, whiting, and saithe, as well as the broadly distributed mussel, flounder, dab, and gastropods). This original OSPAR monitoring approach forms the basis of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive’s descriptor 8 (contaminants and effects) and also contributes to the assessment of chemical exposome in the marine environment, a real challenge for the coming years.Peer reviewe