Using environmental monitoring data from apex predators for chemicals management: towards better use of monitoring data from apex predators in support of prioritisation and risk assessment of chemicals in Europe

A large number of apex predator samples are available at European research collections, environmental specimen banks and natural history museums that could be used in chemical monitoring and regulation. Apex predators bioaccumulate pollutants and integrate contaminant exposure over large spatial and temporal scales, thus providing key information for risk assessments. Still, present assessment practices under the different European chemical legislations hardly use existing chemical monitoring data from top predators. The European LIFE APEX project used existing sample collections and applied state of the art target and non-target screening methods, resulting in the detection of > 4,560 pollutants including legacy compounds. Chemical data of apex species from freshwater, marine and terrestrial compartments should become a essential component in future chemical assessment and management across regulations, with the purpose to (1) validate registration data with ‘real world’ measurements and evaluate the predictability of current models, (2) identify and prioritise hazardous chemicals for further assessment, (3) use data on food web magnification as one line of evidence to assess biomagnification, (4) determine the presence of (bio)transformations products and typical chemical mixtures, and (5) evaluate the effectiveness of risk management measures by trend analysis. This is the second policy brief of the LIFE APEX project.

TREU Gabriele;  SLOBODNIK Jaroslav;  ALYGIZAKIS Nikiforos;  BADRY Alexander;  BUNKE Dirk;  CINCINELLI Alessandra;  CLASSEN Daniela;  DEKKER Rene;  GÖCKENER Bernd;  GKOTSIS Georgios;  HANKE Georg;  DUKE Guy;  JARTUN Morten;  MOVALLI Paola;  NIKA Maria-Christina;  RÜDEL Heinz;  TARAZONA Jose;  THOMAIDIS Nikolaos;  TORNERO ALVAREZ Maria Victoria;  VORKAMP K;  WALKER Lee;  KOSCHORRECK Jan; 

2022-09-19

SPRINGER

JRC130309

2190-4707 (online),   

https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-022-00665-5,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC130309,   

10.1186/s12302-022-00665-5 (online),