Biomarkers Currently Used in Environmental Monitoring - Ecological Biomarkers: Indicators of Ecotoxicological Effects - page 405

of biomarkers continues to increase. Similarly the specificity, or indeed generality, of the
factors inducing biomarker changes is being increasingly understood, and the applica-
tion of a suite of biomarkers in a suite of model organisms of known suitability for each
biomarker represents a very strong tool in understanding, or even predicting, which toxic
contaminant may be present at a high enough bioavailability to cause concern. Perhaps,
even more interesting against this background of relevant interpretive knowledge, is the
potential for the use of a suite of biomarkers in an environmental assessment program to
betray the presence of a high bioavailability of an, as yet, unknown toxic contaminant.
It appears then that the use of biomarkers in environmental assessment internationally
will only increase, and rightly so. Although Western nations appear to be leading in the
application of biomarkers, the technology is being rapidly exported and developing coun-
tries around the world are beginning to follow, as they address their own local contamina-
tion problems associated with industrial and economic development.
References
Au, D.W.T. 2004. The application of histo-cytopathological biomarkers in marine pollution monitor-
ing: A review. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 48:817-34.
Boonsoong, B. et al. 2010. An implementation plan for using biological indicators to improve assess-
ment of water quality in Thailand. Environ. Monit. Assess. 165:205-15.
Collier, T.K. et al. 1995. A field evaluation of cytochrome P4501A as a biomarker of contaminant expo-
sure in three species of flatfish. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 14:154-62.
Collier, T.K., B.F. Anulacion, and B.D. Bill. 1998. Hepatic CYP1A in winter flounder ( Pleuronectes
americanus ) along the Northeast coast: Results from the National Benthic Surveillance Project.
Mar. Pollut. Bull. 37:86-91.
Collier, T.K. et al. 2007. Toxic chemical contaminants and Puget Sound. In: Proc. 2007 Georgia Basin
Puget Sound Research Conference. Available online at: http://www.engr.washington.edu/epp/
psgb/2007psgb/2007proceedings/oral_abstracts.html#12E.
CPCB. 2008a. Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment & Forests, India. Water .
Available at http://www.cpcb.nic.in/water.php. Accessed January 10, 2012.
CPCB. 2008b. Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment & Forests, India. Coastal
Ocean Monitoring and Prediction Systems . Available at http://www.cpcb.nic.in/comaps.php.
Accessed January 10, 2012.
DENR-EMB. 2007. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Environmental Management
Bureau, the Philippines. National Water Quality Status Report (2001-2005) . Available at http://
www.emb.gov.ph/wqms/2001-2005%20NWQSR/NWQSR%20-%20Body.pdf. Accessed January
10, 2012.
DENR-EMB. 2008. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Environmental Management
Bureau, the Philippines. Water Quality Monitoring Manual. Volume I—Manual on Ambient Water
Quality Monitoring. Available at http://www.emb.gov.ph/wqms/policies/ambient_14aug08
.pdf. Accessed January 10, 2012.
Dien, C.V., and T.V. Thuoc. 2003. An overview of current activities relating to phytoplankton moni-
toring in coastal waters of North Vietnam. Workshop on Red Tide Monitoring in Asian Coastal
Waters. University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 10-12 March 2003. pp. 69-73. Available at http://fol
.fs.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/rtw/TOP/EXabst/020ChuVanThuoc.pdf. Accessed January 10, 2012.
DOE. 2010a. Department of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Malaysia.
River Water Quality Monitoring. Available at http://www.doe.gov.my/portal/water-marine-
river-water/river-water-quality-monitoring/. Accessed January 10, 2012.