Aquatic Ecotoxicology and Ecological Risk Assessment: Integrating Bioindicators and Biomarkers

Dear Colleagues,

Aquatics environments and their related ecosystem services (climate regulation, primary production, molecular oxygen formation, food provisioning, and recreational experiences) are threatened by many human activities around the world and are affected by both point and nonpoint source pollution. Numerous chemicals can be simultaneously present in an aquatic environment and the chemical interactions in a mixture can cause complex and substantial changes in the pure chemical properties of its constituents, including their bioavailability and toxicity. For this reason, there is a growing awareness that focusing mainly on chemical data of pollutant concentration in environmental matrices is insufficient to reliably assess the potential risks for both environmental and human health. The growing attention being devoted to these concerns has promoted the development of environmental “diagnostic” tools to allow for the early warning detection of pollution exposure. The need to detect the biological effects of chemical contaminants both at low concentrations and in complex mixtures has increased the study of the relationships between exposure to chemical contaminants and alterations in several biochemical and cellular processes in the organisms in order to use the latter as markers of exposure and early response to chemical contaminants. Today, biomarkers are an essential component of environmental monitoring programs in several countries in support of the commonly used chemical monitoring. This Special Issue aims to focus on insights and perspectives in the biomarker approach, including the detection of the impact of biological pollution in aquatic ecotoxicology. In particular, topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Bioindicators and biomarkers useful in aquatic ecotoxicology and ecological risk assessment.
• New generation of high-throughput molecular biomarkers.
• Environmental monitoring programs.
• New emerging pollutants (nanomaterials, micro/nano-plastics, per and poly fluoroalkyl substances -PFAS, etc.).
• New methodologies for detection of aquatic toxicology and marine pollution.
• Newly bred “invasive” species and their impact on aquatic ecosystems.

Submissions are welcome for both original research and review articles.

Dr. Antonio Calisi
Prof. Dr. Tiziano Verri
Prof. Dr. Franćesco Dondero
Guest Editors

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