An indispensable asset at risk: merits and needs of chemicals-related environmental sciences

Andreas Schaeffer, Henner Hollert, Hans Toni Ratte, Martina Roß-Nickoll, Juliane Filser, Michael Matthies, Joerg Oehlmann, Martin Scheringer, Ralf Schulz, Alfred Seitz
2009 Environmental science and pollution research international  
Modern societies depend on environmental sustainability and on new generations of individuals welltrained by environmental research and teaching institutions. In the past, significant contributions to the identification, assessment, and management of chemical stressors with legal consequences have been made. Main Features Within this article, we intend to elucidate the merits and the emerging challenges of chemicals-related environmental sciences. The manuscript is supported by more than 70
more » ... essors and university academics of leading institutions in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and other countries in Europe, but addresses topics of global concern. Results and Discussion Many environmental problems of pollutants remain to be addresses, since new chemical compounds or classes of new compounds are continuously developed and brought to the market and sooner or later "emerge" in the environment. Further issues are the inclusion of transformation products and chemical mixtures in environmental risk assessment, the long-term presence of xenobiotics bound to soils and sediments, as well as an understanding of the ecological relevance of ecotoxicological end points.
doi:10.1007/s11356-009-0157-x pmid:19468769 fatcat:km7aqjpogjavtbnrlmusbi7vtm