Interactions and Effects of Different Climate Change Scenarios with Emergent Pollutants

Dear Colleagues,

At present, a vast variety of substances arrives to the aquatic environment, including newly developed chemicals, usually called contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), posing a risk to a wide diversity of endogenous marine biological resources with ecological and economical relevance. For decades, classical pollutants (as trace metals) have been monitored worldwide, but regarding CEC studies, information on their environmental concentrations is still limited. Among CECs, we can consider (i) nanomaterials (NMs), (ii) pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), (iii) micro- and nanoplastics, and (iv) elements from waste of electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste). Their ubiquity in the aquatic environment and/or the lack of information regarding their potential toxicity explain the concern over these contaminants. Due to their unique physical and chemical properties, NMs have been used worldwide in different fields, constituting potential threats to the environment. As a consequence, USA and EU policies’ recommendations point out a critical need for NM risk assessment. PPCPs, also included in CECs, have been the target of an increasing amount of data published on their occurrence, and a high number of these substances are already included in the Watch List adopted by the European Union (EU). Plastic pollution constitutes an additional stressor to the marine systems already under other sources of anthropogenic pressure. Understanding the real risks of micro(nano)plastics to marine wildlife requires knowledge on environmental levels and pathways of exposure, which is still in its infancy, especially in what concerns marine invertebrates. Adding to these CECs the technological advances and economic development, the multiplicity and wide variety of applications of electrical and electronic equipment has increased, with the number of end-of-life products, known as e-waste, also increasing. Nevertheless, knowledge on environmental concentrations and risks at coastal systems is scarce.

Alongside the impacts caused by classical and emerging pollutants, organisms in coastal ecosystems are exposed to environmental changes, such as those foreseen under climate change (CC) scenarios, which are likely to significantly affect organisms. Although it is undeniable that ongoing and forecasted changes will pose severe impairments to marine biological resources, there is still no information on organisms’ responses and on adaptive strategies to climate change-related factors that will mask or amplify the effect of CECs. Recent studies have demonstrated that CC-related factors modulate the biochemical and physiological sensitivity of aquatic organisms to different pollutants, with responses being pollutant- and species-specific, but still, limited information is available, especially regarding CECs. Furthermore, CC may also affect pollutants’ behavior and bioavailability, and hence, their bioaccumulation and consequent impacts to organisms.

The present issue will be devoted to studies regarding environmental levels of some of the most widely used abovementioned CECs, in water, sediments, and marine species; but also ecotoxicological studies exploring laboratory exposures to assess the impacts of CECs towards different marine organisms, considering actual and predicted climate change scenarios.

Dr. Rosa Freitas
Dr. Luísa Magalhães
Guest Editors

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• marine environment
• monitoring
• laboratory exposures
• toxicity
• pharmaceuticals, rare earth elements, micro(nano)plastics
• mixtures of pollutants, warming, acidification
• salinity shifts