Biological Effects of Anthropogenic Chemical Stress: Tools for the Assessment of Ecosystem Health (BEAST)

Start year: 2009
End year: 2011
Contact at SYKE: Kari Lehtonen
Funding: The BONUS+ Programme
 

Hazardous substances have been identified as one major threat for the Baltic Sea ecosystem and its biota. The pan-Baltic BEAST project is targeted at developing integrated measures of chemical pollution and tools needed to detect and understand human-induced pressure on the Baltic Sea ecosystem.

Biomarkers

Stress caused by anthropogenic chemicals can be revealed by so-called biomarkers, which include indicators of e.g. immunological responses, intensified metabolism of toxicants, neurotoxicity, genotoxicity and endocrine disruption. Biomarkers can tell us if an organism has been exposed to contaminants present in their environment, and many have strong diagnostic power. Examining biological effects of contaminants under natural conditions is probably the only realistic way to improve our understanding concerning environmentally harmful levels of contaminants in the presence of modifying factors such as other chemical compounds and abiotic factors.

The BEAST project aims to give a major thrust for developing the biological effects approach in the Baltic Sea region. The project generates data and practical guidelines for integration of biological effects methods into the Baltic Sea monitoring programme.

The BEAST will present (1) an integrated multi-level toolbox consisting of established and novel biomarkers as sensitive diagnostic tools to identify how hazardous substances affect the Baltic Sea ecosystem and (2) scientifically-based recommendations for the set-up of an integrated chemical-biological effects monitoring of hazardous substances in the whole Baltic Sea area based on sub-regional assessments for future integrated assessments of ecosystem health.

Sixteen partners from all Baltic Sea countries are involved in BEAST; the work consists of field and experimental research using both established and novel methods on 5 Baltic Sea sub-regions so far with limited information on biological effects of hazardous substances. The outcome will be communicated to national and regional stakeholders and co-operation with HELCOM MONAS will be established.

Hierarchical structure presenting targets of biological effects of contaminants and their respective measurable endpoints.

More information

Special Researcher Kari Lehtonen, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, firstname.surname@ymparisto.fi