"An Integrated Approach to the Toxicity Evaluation of Irish Marine Sediments" Funded by STRAND III
This three-year collaborative project between the Marine Institute (MI) and the Radiation and Environmental Science Centre (RESC) of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) commenced in June 2004.
At present, assessment and monitoring of sediment quality in Ireland is predominantly reliant on chemical analysis. However, should a problem arise current procedures to characterise this toxicity are limited. Biotests are more biologically relevant than chemical measurements; therefore, an integrated approach is needed to link sediment contamination with determined ecotoxicity data by examining the relationship between observed toxicity and key contaminants. The chemical analysis of the sediment is carried out at the Marine Institute while the battery of biotests is conducted at the RESC. The ultimate aim is to develop an integrated assessment approach for quality assessment of sediment.