Invisible Threats to Oceans (InTO): assessing the combined toxicity effects of emerging anthropogenic pollutants on microbial communities

The theme this project addresses is "Challenged ecosystems: climate, pollution, resilience, resource management, societal wellbeing".

Today, more than 1000 emerging pollutants (e.g. nanomaterial, microplastics, surfactants, pharmaceuticals and PCBs, pesticides, amongst many others) have been reported in the European aquatic environment (http://www.norman-network.net). The InTO project will address the combined effects of two emerging pollutants, UV-filters and nanoplastics, on marine bacteria, the most abundant organisms on Earth that are key players of the biogeochemical balances of our planet and are at the heart of bioremediation processes. Similarly as with micro and nanoplastics pollution, organic UV-filters, which are used in a wide range of cosmetics and personal care products (PCPs), have also been recently identified as ubiquitous contaminants in coastal waters. Such chemicals are recognised of emerging concern to our oceans due to their persistence, as related to their chemical properties, large production volumes, and their bioaccumulation and toxic effects on marine organisms. Cosmetics represent a huge market of 10 billion euros in the UK (European Commission 2015), offering a significant incentive, and indeed opportunity here, for Scottish Universities to be leading the way in assessing the effects and impacts of these types of emerging pollutants in our oceans.
Waste or discarded plastics can be mechanically degraded into micro, and eventually over time, nanoplastics. Nanoplastics not only directly affect aquatic organisms but also adsorb other organic contaminants, such as UV-filters, producing a 'combined' pollution with potentially synergistic toxic effects. The InTO project aims to unravel, for the first time, the combined toxicity effects of these types of emerging anthropogenic pollutants on microbial communities. The project is well aligned to the aims of the Scottish Marine Science Strategy in delivering 'clean, healthy, safe, productive, biologically diverse marine and coastal environments, managed to meet the long-term needs of people and nature', as the knowledge gained from this project could impact policy makers.