Dear Colleagues,

The effects of exposure to multiple stressors, including pollutants, in the marine environment, may be expressed at multiple trophic levels of the ecosystem; however, more attention deserves to be paid to the marine environment. The application of robust examination procedures and biochemical, immunological, and microbiological techniques, combined with pathological examination and behavioral analysis, has led to the development of health assessment methods at the individual and population levels in wild marine organisms. With these tools in hand, investigators have begun to unravel the relationships between exposures to environmental multiple stressors (e.g., climate change, pollutants, marine litter, pathogens, biotoxins) and a range of endpoints in marine species as indicators of ecosystem health. The Special Issue could pave the way for the development of a comprehensive approach to the study of the threats to marine species, combining the conservation approach with new and emerging technologies. The development of new specific tools to measure the long-term impact of contaminants of re-emerging concern (e.g., organochlorines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, etc.), emerging contaminants (e.g., perfluoroalkyl chemicals, new brominated flame retardants, pharmaceuticals and personal care products) as well as micro- and nanoplastics are strongly needed and required in both laboratory experiments and in field studies.

This Special Issue aims to provide new insights into ecotoxicological research both with the studies on model species and to assess the health status of natural populations. The results of the studies will provide data for the implementation of directives to preserve marine ecosystems, to define threshold levels for legislative authorities and in light of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially SDG14.

Dr. Cristina Panti
Dr. Matteo Baini
Guest Editors

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• legacy contaminants
• emerging contaminants
• endpoints
• biomarkers
• effects
• marine environment
• sentinel species
• SDGs