English title: Impact of persistent organic pollutants on North Sea brown shrimp (Crangon crangon L.) Period: November 2007 till November 2011 Status: Completed
Universiteit Antwerpen; Faculteit Wetenschappen; Departement Biologie; Onderzoeksgroep Systemisch Fysiologisch en Ecotoxicologisch Onderzoek (SPHERE), more, partner
Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen; Operationele Directie Natuurlijk Milieu; Beheerseenheid Mathematisch Model Noordzee en Schelde-estuarium (BMM), more, partner
Abstract
C. crangon (Crustacea; Decapoda; Caridea) is one of the most common and economical important crustacean species of the European coastal waters and estuaries. While crustaceans are believed to be extremely sensitive towards xenobiotic endocrine disruption, practically no scientific effort has focused on the effects of pollution on brown shrimp. Generally, investigation of endocrine disruption in natural populations is hampered by the high diversity of potential endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), which may have synergistic as well as individual physiological effects, and the complexity of the endocrine system itself. Our first aim is to investigate individual dose-related effects of three ubiquitous environmental contaminants (TBT, PFOS and BDE47) on the endocrinology of laboratory exposed C. crangon. Our second aim is to screen for endocrine disruptive effects in field samples obtained from 2008 to 2011 from the commercially exploited shrimp grounds (ranging from the Southern North Sea to the Danish Wadden Sea), the Western Scheldt estuary and the associated brackish tidal marsh ‘Het Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe’. Pollution concentrations will be analyzed chromatographically, endocrine disruptive effects will be analyzed through a C. crangon DNA microarray, which will be developed during the project.
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