Uptake of chemicals from legacy waste sites in coastal food webs and effects on higher predators

废弃废物处理场（如历史上的垃圾填埋场、采矿、煤气化和飞灰废物处理场以及“夜土”处理场）可能是遗留污染物（如金属、持久性有机化合物、杀菌剂）和新兴污染物（如药品、个人护理产品、转化产品以及微和纳米聚合物）进入沿海环境的重要来源。这些污染物在水和沉积物区隔中的出现可导致有毒物质混合物进入水生食物链。暴露于遗留废物场所释放的化学物质组合可能导致对高度保护的高级捕食者（如海鸟）的人口影响，从而可能影响种群的恢复能力。因此，需要一个明确的空间暴露评估框架，确定废弃废物场址作为多种污染物通过沿海食物链暴露和风险来源的重要性，以支持靠近受保护栖息地和脆弱野生动物种群的遗留废物场址的管理决策。在这个项目中，我们将开发和测试一个食物网暴露和风险评估模型框架，以评估遗留废物场地产生的污染物。我们将把废物处理实践的历史分析与环境监测、先进的分析化学和食物链以及危害评估相结合，以确定废物场地产生的化学污染物通过沿海海洋食物链的转移，以及这些暴露对海鸟种群的影响。我们估计暴露和影响的方法的潜力将通过直接监测一种高级掠食性鸟类——欧洲长毛鸟的人口统计和生理状况来评估。欧洲海蛞蝓是这些研究的一个极好的选择，因为它们在沿海的进食习惯可能会导致它们高度暴露于从陆地上的遗留地点转移到海洋的污染中。此外，它们排泄某些类型有机污染物的能力可能是有限的，正如过去的研究表明，这种物种对持久性有机污染物的负荷是任何海鸟物种中最高的。我们将开发、参数化和测试我们在福斯湾的殖民地的暴露和风险模型，福斯湾是一个遗留废物场地密度很高的地区，也是一个拟议的海鸟特别保护区。我们将监测潜在高暴露（靠近多个废物场-英奇基斯西部）和中等暴露（较少近地点-五月岛东部）的群体的个体。在蜂群中，我们将研究表现出不同迁徙习性的不同鸟类群体。一些常年留在福斯湾，而另一些则在繁殖季节之外前往北阿伯丁郡海岸（该地区几乎没有遗留的废物场地，因此潜在的低暴露）。通过测量来自不同种群和不同迁徙模式的个体的人口统计学和生理学，我们可以比较我们的建模框架在不同暴露情景下预测暴露和潜在风险的效果。在整个项目过程中，我们将与政策、监管、工业和非政府组织部门的主要利益相关者合作，探索如何将我们的模型与现有的监管制度结合起来，以减轻沿海垃圾填埋场对野生动物种群的不利影响。我们的做法将适用于英国及其他沿海地区。

Disused waste disposal sites (e.g. historic landfills, mining, coal gasification and fly ash spoil sites and 'night soil' disposal areas) may be important sources of legacy (e.g. metals, persistent organic compounds, biocides) and emerging (e.g. pharmaceuticals, personal care products, transformation products and micro and nano-polymers) pollutants into coastal environments. The occurrence of these pollutants in water and sediment compartments can result in the entry of a mixture of toxicants into aquatic food chains. Exposure to combinations of chemicals released from legacy waste sites could lead to demographic impacts on higher predators of high conservation concern, such as seabirds, that could affect population resilience. A spatial explicit exposure assessment framework that establishes the importance of disused waste sites as a source of exposure and risk for multiple pollutants through coastal food chains is therefore needed to support management decisions for legacy waste sites close to protected habitats and vulnerable wildlife populations. In this project, we will develop and test a food web exposure and risk assessment modelling framework for legacy waste site-derived pollutants. We will combine historic analyses of waste disposal practices with environmental monitoring, advanced analytical chemistry and food chain and hazard assessments to establish the transfer of waste site derived chemical contaminants through coastal marine food chains and the impacts of these exposures for seabird populations. The potential for our approach to estimate exposure and effects will be assessed by directly monitoring the demography and physiological status of a higher predator bird species, the European shag. European shags are an excellent choice for these studies because their coastal feeding habits may lead to high exposure to contaminated moving from legacy sites on land into the sea. Further, their ability to excrete some types of organic contaminants is potentially limited, as indicated by past work that has shown this species to have to some of the highest loading of any seabird species for persistent organic pollutants. We will develop, parameterise and test our exposure and risk models for colonies in the Firth of Forth, an area with a high density of legacy waste sites that is also a proposed Special Protection Area for seabirds. We will monitor individual shags at colonies with potentially high exposure (close proximity to multiple waste sites - Inchkeith to the West) and moderate exposure (fewer proximal sites - Isle of May to the East). Within colonies, we will study separate groups of birds displaying contrasting migratory habits. Some remain in the Firth of Forth all year round, while others head to the North Aberdeenshire coast outside of the breeding season (an area with few legacy waste sites, and hence potentially low exposure). By measuring the demography and physiology of individuals from different colonies and with different migratory patterns, we can compare how well our modelling framework predicts exposure and potential risk under different exposure scenarios. Throughout the project, we will work with key stakeholders from the policy, regulatory, industry and NGO sectors to explore how to use our models alongside existing regulatory regimes to mitigate any identified adverse impacts on coastal waste sites on wildlife populations. Our approach will be transferable to other coastal regions in the UK and beyond.