Tracking marine pollutant cocktails and their ecological impact with advanced analytical, technological and toxicological tools

SEATRACE will deepen knowledge of marine pollution by characterizing complex cocktails of marine pollutants (MrPs) in coastal regions of the Atlantic, Arctic and Indian Oceans, and Mediterranean Sea. This will be accomplished by determining hazardous MrPs and assessing their toxicity on key marine organisms across global climate change and their cumulative effects on marine communities and human health. Active and passive sampling approaches, bio/chemical analytical methods, aquatic sensors and drones, and next-generation cumulative risk assessment will be applied. A key innovation is the integration of the monitoring tools with effect-based methods (EBMs) including effect-directed analysis (EDA) to identify and prioritize hotspots at risk and toxic components within MrPs mixtures, enhancing the accuracy of ecological and human health risk assessments. The human exposure to seafood-borne MrPs will be assessed in seafood health and economy, providing strategies to enhance seafood safety confidence and support fisheries trust. SEATRACE will strengthen European Union (EU)-India research collaboration on MrPs and plastic litter through the joint work of EU and Indian organization. Additionally, the Indian partners will apply innovative pilot solutions to reduce marine plastics at key hotspots, including waste recycling to meet national requirements. They will contribute with expertise across the seawater management value chain, from knowledge providers to end-users. SEATRACE will address the following mid-term outcomes: i) exploitation of four monitoring tools including Passive sampling (chemical, plastic litter, and parasitic copepods), bacterial and human cell-based new approach methods (NAMs), optical sensors and drones and the application of EBMs/EDA to marine environments; ii) development of robust, evidence-based tools and models for risk assessment and policy-making at local and global scales; and iii) fostering EU–India cooperation for harmonized and effective protection of marine ecosystems and public health.