ECsafeSEAFOOD
Priority environmental contaminants in seafood: safety assessment, impact and public perception
Despite seafood is a high quality, healthy and safe food item, some seafood can accumulate
environmental chemical contaminants with impact on human health. Limited information
is available for chemical contaminants for which no legislation or limits set by seafood
authorities exist. In order to increase seafood safety to consumers, ECsafeSEAFOOD aims
to assess safety issues related to non-regulated priority chemical contaminants and
evaluate their impact on public health (including endocrine disruptors, pharmaceutical and
personal care products, metal species, biotoxins from harmful algal blooms, marine litter
and associated chemicals). The project is relevant for the Marine Strategy Framework
Directive (MSFD) and especially for the aspects regarding contaminants in fish and seafood
which will be useful to determine the Good Environmental Status of EU waters. |
|
|
|
The ECsafeSEAFOOD project contributes to the
necessary baseline for the presence of non-regulated
environmental contaminants in seafood,
prioritizes those that are real hazards for human
health, and improves knowledge on the transfer
of relevant contaminants between the environment
and seafood, taking into account the effect
of climate change. The project is working on an
online database that will incorporate the available
information about contaminants level in
seafood and toxicity. In parallel, seafood is being
collected in five hot spot areas across Europe for | quantification of contaminants. Also, a European
online survey has been finalized to understand
consumer behaviour and choices. The toxicological
characterization of seafood contaminants is
performed in realistic conditions using cell lines
and zebrafish embryos. Such information is
crucial to accomplish accurate risk assessment
and measure the potential impact of seafood
contaminants on public health using in-depth
probabilistic exposure tools. The project has
started to develop new detection tools (using
immunochemical assays and sensors) designed |
ACCESS dedicates
an important effort to the potential impacts
shipping activities might have on the sensitive
marine environment, including air pollution
and long range transport of pollutants by the
atmospheric circulation, soot and black carbon
deposition on sea-ice, oil spill and ballasting ship
tanks in the Arctic Ocean. ACCESS is focusing on
enhancing knowledge related to bio-economic and socio-economic aspects of fish resources
and aquaculture in the context of climate change
in the Arctic. It is the aim of ACCESS to assess
the opportunities and multiple risks related to oil
and gas extraction in the Arctic Ocean, to highlight
potential environmental pressures, provide
pathways for technological, legal and institutional
solutions and to analyse the socio-economic
impacts of resource extraction activity oto enable the easier and faster assessment of
the presence of environmental contaminants in
seafood products. At last, simulated conditions
were created to assess links between the level
of contaminants in the environment and that in
seafood taking into account the effect of climate
changes. Concerning dissemination activities, the
project has already identified the most relevant
European stakeholders to share the results that
will be obtained in the project, including risk
managers, in order to reduce public health risks
from seafood consumption. The new information
will enable to refine or establish Maximum
Reference Levels in seafood for contaminants
that are real hazards and for which no legislation
exists or information is still insufficient.
European, world markets and societies. ACCESS
gathers the expertise from 28 partners across
Europe including a substantial involvement from
the private sector. A key objective of ACCESS is
to point out governance options in the context
of climate change and the envisioned human
activities' increase in the economic sectors mentioned
above. The wide range of existing legislative
instruments, conventions, agreements at
national and international level, provide a complex
system of regulation in an area requiring
special integrated overview. ACCESS is uniquely
positioned to identify lacunae and to offer strategic
policy options for the medium and long
term future in the context of climate change and
the Integrated Maritime Policy. |
ECsafeSEAFOOD addresses its objectives following
multi-disciplinary approaches: quantification
of contaminants in seafood from different
European areas and a European online
consumer survey to collect baseline information.
Relevant information about priority contaminants
available in literature and national
monitoring programmes has been gathered in
an online database. Contaminants toxicology is
being studied in realistic conditions with human
cell lines and zebrafish embryos. |
|