Biomarkers Currently Used in Environmental Monitoring - Ecological Biomarkers: Indicators of Ecotoxicological Effects - page 389

assess neurotoxic effects in aquatic organisms; histopathology of mussels ( Mytilus spp.);
micronucleus and Comet assays for assessing cytogenetic and DNA damage in aquatic
organisms; metallothioneins in mussels; and externally visible fish diseases, macroscopic
liver neoplasms, and liver histopathology in fish.
It can be concluded, therefore, that a role for biomarkers is being increasingly recognized
in investigations of the ecotoxicology of northwestern European coastal environments, but
what about freshwater systems?
15.2.2 Freshwater
The application of biomarkers in the ecotoxicological assessment of contaminants in fresh-
water lags behind that in coastal environments, but there are specific projects actively
pursuing this topic.
In France, the National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks (INERIS), set up in
1990, is a public research institute under the aegis of the French Ministry of Environment.
Its mission is to carry out or commission studies and research programs aimed at prevent-
ing the risks associated with commercial activities on health, the safety of persons and
property, and on the environment. Since 2000, the ecotoxicological unit of INERIS has
been developing biomarkers in several freshwater fish species that can assess the effects
of contaminants with the potential to be used in environmental regulation within the
WFD (Sanchez and Porcher 2009). These biomarkers have included biomarkers of oxida-
tive stress, neurotoxicity, and reproductive and immunological disruption. Of particular
interest recently have been biomarkers of the effects of androgenic endocrine disruptors in
freshwater fish, for example, in gudgeon Gobio gobio downstream from the discharge of a
pharmaceutical manufacturing plant (Sanchez et al. 2011).
The NORMAN network (Network of Reference Laboratories for Monitoring of
Emerging Environmental Pollutants), initially funded under Framework Programme 6 of
the European Commission in 2005, has been established since 2009 as a permanent self-
sustaining network of (now 45) reference laboratories, research centers, and related orga-
nizations for the monitoring and biomonitoring of emerging environmental substances,
including in freshwater systems. Its mission includes the encouragement of the validation
and harmonization of common measurement methods and monitoring tools so that the
demands of risk assessors can be better met. The application of biomarkers is of central
importance. The NORMAN network is of international significance with one member (from
Canada) beyond the boundaries of Europe. The countries of origin of European members
make up an impressive list—France, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, United Kingdom,
Switzerland, Italy, Slovakia, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, Sweden, Cyprus, Serbia,
and the Czech Republic.
As a further example, the FISHBIO project is a river monitoring project in France that
seeks to apply a multibiomarker approach to complement chemical analyses. Thus, estab-
lished biomarkers (acetylcholinesterase, catalase, glutathione S -transferase, malondi-
aldehyde (MDA), EROD) are analyzed in three fish species (barbel Barbus barbus , chub
Squalius cephalus , and trout Salmo trutta ) from 11 sites including a reference site.
Thus, biomarkers are being increasingly used to assess the biological effects of contami-
nants in European freshwater systems. Knowledge to be disseminated widely through
the NORMAN network will catalyze the further incorporation of biomarkers in the envi-
ronmental assessment of these freshwaters with the potential for them to be written into
environmental regulations.