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2J - TIE (TUP/131) Characterisation of hazardous substances in marine sediments. Thomas, Kevin1, Balaam, Jan1, Hurst, Mark1, 1 CEFAS, Burnham on Crouch, Essex, UK ABSTRACT- Sediments collected from selected United Kingdom estuaries exhibit toxic (acute), estrogenic, mutagenic and aryl hydrocarbon receptor activities when tested using a battery of bioassays. Determining which substances are responsible for these effects requires the combination of both chemical and biological techniques through the application of toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) procedures. Following an assessment of the spatial distribution of these biological activities, TIE procedures using Tisbe battagliai, an in vitro yeast estrogen screen (YES), the DR (dioxin responsive) CALUX assay and MutatoxTM were successfully applied to successfully identify a number of the substances responsible. A number of compounds with very different physicochemical properties were identified, and the procedures validated with authentic reference compounds. The identified substances were then assessed against the criteria of persistency, liability to bioaccumulate and toxicity (PBT) in order to establish whether they can be considered hazardous and what further action may be required. The procedures are also suitable for numerous other endpoints (e.g. yeast androgen screen) and can therefore be used to characterise a broad range of compounds with defined biological effects. The effectiveness of this approach in identifying which hazardous substances is also assessed. Key words: marine sediment, toxicity identification evaluation, toxicity |
