Emerging Endocrine Disruptors Contaminants (eEDCs) comprise a large and diverse group of compounds that includes pharmaceuticals, personal care products, bisphenols and several other substances, well known by the adverse impacts to human and animal health. Nonetheless, there is a limited knowledge about eEDCs in seafood and their bioaccumulation and biomagnification potential in estuarine food webs and consequently their potential risk for public health.
Despite the important role that several EU projects (e.g. ECSafeSEAFOOD) have had on the assessment of emerging contaminants in seafood species in Europe, there are gaps that should be filled, including some specificities of the Portuguese reality such as: metabolization, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification of eEDCs in Portuguese estuaries ecosystems; evaluation of cooking process on eEDCs bioavailability, and risk assessment.
The overall objective of this project is to assess metabolization, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification of eEDCs in food webs of two major Portuguese Estuaries (Douro and Tagus rivers) as well as evaluate their impact on public health derived from fish consumption. To accomplish this goal, the project foresees the following actions. Firstly, the optimization of an innovator sample preparation procedure based on the use of cobalt oxyhydroxide (CoOOH) as dispersive sorbent to allow a fast and accurate chromatographic-mass tandem simultaneous determination of several eEDCs [bisphenols (BP) A, AP, AF B, E, F, P, S and Z, benzophenone, galaxolide, tonalide, EE2, paracetamol, ibuprofen, diclofenac, and carbamazepine] and their metabolites. Subsequently, representative species of different trophic levels of the ecosystems under study will be monitored in relation to their contamination by eEDCs. Bioaccumulation and elimination potential will be evaluated in vivo with two model species, i.e. mussels and seabream juveniles for eEDCs with high potential of bioaccumulation (e.g. BPS, BPAF, galaxolide and diclofenac) and other eEDCs provided by the previous monitoring. Then, the effects of processing/cooking operations on the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of relevant eEDCS found in seafood species consumed in Portugal will be evaluated. The effect of catechin addition (through green tea) to decrease the bioaccessibility of eEDCs content will also be studied, in order to suggest mitigation practices for consumers. Afterwards, the toxicological risk presented by these contaminants in seafood will be assessed. The project and its results will be disseminated by several means, including: project website, guidelines, articles in open assess in scientific, communications in scientific meetings and a final workshop.
The proposal relies on the scientific complementation and renowned research excellence in different areas, e.i. chemical analysis, biology, ecotoxicology and risk assessment. The proposed team comprises experts in all these areas, ensuring a solid scientific background.