Lead: Ketil Hylland

University of Oslo

Sanderia image credit: CNR-IAS.

About

Work Package 3 will develop a biomarker-based approach and an integrated elaboration procedure that will be of particular relevance for assessing the ecological risk of microplastics in the marine environment. WP3 will investigate the onset of chronic and subtle effects on the sensitivity of organisms towards additional multiple stressors. A representative sample of traditional species (e.g. mussels and fish) and innovative model organisms (e.g. jellyfish) from those tested in WP2, will be utilised in this work package and exposed in mesocosms for long-term periods (> 2 months) to assess the importance of size and shape of microplastics in modulating cellular responsiveness and induced sensitivity to secondary stressors including those related to global change or anthropogenic pollution. The overall results of WP3 will contribute to defining the ecological risk of MPs in the marine environment through the integration with Weight of Evidence model in WP6.

Key Tasks

• Exposures to MPs and other stressors

• Analyses of cellular biomarkers

• Analyses of molecular biomarkers

• Elaboration of toxicity hazard indices