Invisible Threats to Oceans (InTO): assessing the combined toxicity effects of emerging anthropogenic pollutants on microbial communities

该项目的主题是“生态系统：气候、污染、复原力、资源管理、社会福祉”。目前，欧洲水生环境中已报告了1000多种新出现的污染物（例如纳米材料、微塑料、表面活性剂、药物和多氯联苯、农药等）（www.norman-network.net）。InTO项目将解决紫外线过滤器和纳米塑料这两种新兴污染物对海洋细菌的综合影响，海洋细菌是地球上最丰富的生物体，是我们星球地球化学平衡的关键参与者，也是生物修复过程的核心。与微塑料和纳米塑料污染类似，用于各种化妆品和个人护理产品（PCP）的有机紫外线过滤剂最近也被确定为沿海沃茨中普遍存在的污染物。这些化学品由于其化学特性、大量生产、生物累积性和对海洋生物的毒性作用而具有持久性，因此被认为是我们海洋新出现的关切问题。化妆品在英国代表着一个100亿欧元的巨大市场（欧盟委员会，2015年），为苏格兰大学提供了一个重要的激励，实际上也是一个机会，让他们在评估这些类型的新兴污染物对我们海洋的影响和影响方面发挥带头作用。废弃或丢弃的塑料可以通过机械方式降解为微塑料，并最终随着时间的推移成为纳米塑料。纳米塑料不仅直接影响水生生物，而且还吸附其他有机污染物，如紫外线过滤器，产生具有潜在协同毒性效应的“综合”污染。InTO项目旨在首次揭示这些类型的新兴人为污染物对微生物群落的综合毒性效应。该项目符合苏格兰海洋科学战略的目标，即提供“清洁、健康、安全、富有成效、生物多样性的海洋和沿海环境，以满足人类和自然的长期需求”，因为从该项目中获得的知识可能会影响决策者。

The theme this project addresses is "Challenged ecosystems: climate, pollution, resilience, resource management, societal wellbeing".Today, more than 1000 emerging pollutants (e.g. nanomaterial, microplastics, surfactants, pharmaceuticals and PCBs, pesticides, amongst many others) have been reported in the European aquatic environment (http://www.norman-network.net). The InTO project will address the combined effects of two emerging pollutants, UV-filters and nanoplastics, on marine bacteria, the most abundant organisms on Earth that are key players of the biogeochemical balances of our planet and are at the heart of bioremediation processes. Similarly as with micro and nanoplastics pollution, organic UV-filters, which are used in a wide range of cosmetics and personal care products (PCPs), have also been recently identified as ubiquitous contaminants in coastal waters. Such chemicals are recognised of emerging concern to our oceans due to their persistence, as related to their chemical properties, large production volumes, and their bioaccumulation and toxic effects on marine organisms. Cosmetics represent a huge market of 10 billion euros in the UK (European Commission 2015), offering a significant incentive, and indeed opportunity here, for Scottish Universities to be leading the way in assessing the effects and impacts of these types of emerging pollutants in our oceans. Waste or discarded plastics can be mechanically degraded into micro, and eventually over time, nanoplastics. Nanoplastics not only directly affect aquatic organisms but also adsorb other organic contaminants, such as UV-filters, producing a 'combined' pollution with potentially synergistic toxic effects. The InTO project aims to unravel, for the first time, the combined toxicity effects of these types of emerging anthropogenic pollutants on microbial communities. The project is well aligned to the aims of the Scottish Marine Science Strategy in delivering 'clean, healthy, safe, productive, biologically diverse marine and coastal environments, managed to meet the long-term needs of people and nature', as the knowledge gained from this project could impact policy makers.