Determining Good Environmental Status under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Case study for descriptor 8 (chemical contaminants).

The European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires individual member states to develop a robust set of tools for defining eleven qualitative descriptors of Good Environmental Status (GES), such as demonstrating that "Concentrations of contaminants are at levels not giving rise to pollution effects" (GES descriptor 8). Adopting the recommendations of the ICES/OSPAR Study Group for the Integrated Monitoring of Contaminants and Biological Effects (SGIMC), we present a case study demonstrating how the proposed approach, using chemical contaminant (metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls) and biological effects (EROD, bile metabolites and pathology) data in different matrices (sediment and biota), could be used to contribute to the determination of GES in a region of the North Sea region off the east coast of the UK.

Histopathology and contaminant concentrations in fish from Kuwait's marine environment.

Kuwait has witnessed major socioeconomic and industrial development in recent decades. Consequently, a variety of contaminants related to these activities have been discharged directly into the marine environment. This paper describes the application of a histopathology baseline survey in two potential sentinel species, the Giant sea catfish (Arius thalassinus) and the Fourlined terapon (Pelates quadrilineatus) to assess the health of biota inhabiting Kuwait's marine environment. Histological analysis revealed several lesion types in both species, although the prevalence was generally considered low with no discernible differences between sampling locations. The analysis of contaminant burdens (metals, PCBs, PBDEs, HBCDD) in A. thalassinus, along with the analysis of bile for PAH metabolites in both species, indicated that levels of contaminant exposure was low. Overall the data show that both species appear to be susceptible to pathologies associated with environmental contaminants and therefore suitable for further investigation as sentinel organisms for biological effects monitoring.