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

废弃废物处置场(如历史垃圾填埋场、采矿、煤气化和飞灰废弃场以及“粪便”处置区)可能是沿海环境中遗留污染物(如金属、持久性有机化合物、杀虫剂)和新兴污染物(如药品、个人护理产品、转化产品和微纳聚合物)的重要来源。这些污染物在水和沉积物中的出现可能导致混合毒物进入水生食物链。暴露于从遗留废物场地释放的化学品组合可能导致对高度保护关切的较高捕食者，如海鸟的人口影响，这可能会影响种群的复原力。因此，需要建立一个明确的空间暴露评估框架，确立废弃废物场地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，以支持接近受保护栖息地和易受伤害野生动物种群的遗留废物场地的管理决定。在这个项目中，我们将开发和测试一个食物网暴露和遗留废物场源污染物的风险评估模型框架。我们将结合对废物处置做法的历史分析、环境监测、高级分析化学和食物链以及危险评估，以确定废物场地衍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。我们的方法估计暴露和影响的可能性将通过直接监测一种更高级的捕食性鸟类的人口统计学和生理状态来评估，这种捕食性鸟类是欧洲沙鼠。欧洲的袋鼠是这些研究的绝佳选择，因为它们在沿海的觅食习惯可能会导致它们高度暴露于受污染的环境中，从陆地上的遗留地点转移到海洋中。此外，它们排泄某些类型有机污染物的能力可能是有限的，过去的工作表明，该物种对持久性有机污染物的负载量是任何海鸟物种中最高的。我们将为福斯湾的殖民地开发、参数化和测试我们的暴露和风险模型，福斯湾是一个遗留废弃地密度很高的地区，也是拟议的海鸟特别保护区。我们将监测可能高暴露(靠近多个废弃地点--西部的仁奇基思)和中等暴露(较少的近端地点--东部的五月岛)的殖民地的单个粪便。在群体内部，我们将研究表现出不同迁徙习惯的不同鸟类群体。其中一些常年留在福斯湾，而另一些则在繁殖季节以外前往北阿伯丁郡海岸(该地区几乎没有遗留下来的废墟，因此潜在的风险很低)。通过测量来自不同群体和不同迁徙模式的个人的人口学和生理学，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程度。在整个项目中，我们将与来自政策、监管、行业和非政府组织部门的关键利益攸关方合作，探索如何在现有监管制度的基础上使用我们的模式，以减轻对沿海废物场地对野生动物种群的任何已确定的不利影响。我们的方法将适用于英国其他沿海地区和其他地区。

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.