Invisible pollution: Emerging marine pollutants

Authors

  • Belen Gonzalez-Gaya Research Centre for Experimental Marine Biology and Biotechnology in the Plentzia Marine Station (PiE-UPV/EHU) and at the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.11.16976

Keywords:

emerging pollutants, suspect analysis, non-directed analysis, transport of pollutants, exposure

Abstract

Since the start of the Anthropocene, the planet has been threatened by a number of risks associated with human activity. Among them, chemical pollution is posing conceptual and technical challenges that are particularly difficult to characterise on a global scale. We must ask ourselves, what is a pollutant? What properties are relevant in their definition? Studies on the abundance, persistence, mobility in the environment, and bioaccumulation potential of the chemical compounds we use every day are changing the paradigm of what we consider pollutants. Thus, compounds that do not cause acute toxicity can still be dangerous for the ecosystem when they continually reach the environment, exist in very high concentrations, or disperse easily. Thus, raising awareness about the forgotten pollution that we unknowingly generate but which is affecting our oceans will be essential to protect the planet.

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Author Biography

Belen Gonzalez-Gaya, Research Centre for Experimental Marine Biology and Biotechnology in the Plentzia Marine Station (PiE-UPV/EHU) and at the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain.

Researcher at the Research Centre for Experimental Marine Biology and Biotechnology in the Plentzia Marine Station (PiE-UPV/EHU) and at the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. She focuses on the presence and effects of organic pollutants in natural ecosystems and urban areas. She has a special interest in aquatic ecosystems which she studies from a multidisciplinary perspective, combining analytical, ecotoxicological, and biological techniques to explore the impact of pollution on the environment. 

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Published

2021-01-21

How to Cite

Gonzalez-Gaya, B. (2021). Invisible pollution: Emerging marine pollutants. Metode Science Studies Journal, (11), 183–191. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.11.16976
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Issue

Science's structures (2021)

Section

Oceans. The impact of global change on the sea

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