Ecological Risk Assessment for Aquatic Toxic Effects

Dear Colleagues,

Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) is a framework, a paradigm, a regulatory process, a decision support tool, and a research discipline focused on evaluating the likelihood of adverse environmental impacts from anthropogenic stressors, most commonly applied to chemical contaminants. ERAs are often conducted in a vacuum of environmental regulators and ecotoxicology research communities but have far-reaching implications for managing sustainable populations, particularly those subjected to multiple stressors. The drivers of ERAs are environmental receptors (i.e., animals, plants, habitats, food webs), and while objectives vary according to assessment, they focus on protecting the environment for the sake of the environment. They play a pivotal role in maintaining a sustainable environment, particularly where chemicals are just one of many stressors contributing to a “death by a thousand cuts”. While ERAs are by nature eco-centric, the implications of their conclusions are far reaching. For example, ERAs of superfund sites contribute significantly to ensuring the environmental justice of communities around heavily contaminated areas.

ERAs focused on aquatic habitats preserve the integrity of surface, estuarine, and marine waters to support healthy ecosystems. Aquatic systems receive chemical contaminants from intentional (e.g., pesticide use, permitted effluent) and accidental (e.g., oil spills/leaks, transportation/factory accidents) release, and ERAs require flexibility across habitats, contaminant types, ecological receptors, and spatial scales. Within aquatic-focused ERAs alone, the variety of exposure and effects analyses and methodologies used to inform risk is quite vast and must continue to push the limits of the “best available science” to withstand court challenges, drive million-dollar decisions, and most importantly, protect the environment for the next generation. This Special Issue focuses on advances in ERAs of aquatic ecosystems that are, or could be, applied in conjunction with sustainable resource management, with a focus on aquatic and marine ecosystems. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Extracting fossil fuels
• Conserving coral reefs
• Preserving wetland habitat
• Protecting endangered species
• Evaluating contaminants of emerging concern
• Multiple stressors including climate change

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Sandy Raimondo
Dr. Adriana C. Bejarano 
Guest Editors

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• ecological risk assessment
• aquatic toxicology
• new approach methodologies
• chemical safety
• multiple stressors