A team from the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and the Department of Biology at the University of Aveiro recently travelled to Shanghai to strengthen co-operation with the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute (ECSFRI) of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences.

During the visit, researchers from the two institutions jointly defined the work plan, sampling campaigns and scientific mobility activities. The research will focus on the effects of emerging contaminants in bivalve aquaculture areas in Portugal and China, using a One Health approach that links ocean health, food safety and human health.

The study will cover critical metals, including rare-earth elements and battery-related metals, as well as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The teams will harmonise sampling and analytical procedures, using bivalves as sentinel species to compare contamination levels and biological responses in the two countries.

The partnership also aims to establish a transcontinental biomonitoring network and develop the One Health Coastal Risk Index, which will bring together environmental and biological data with information on consumer risks, enabling comparisons between coastal areas in Europe and Asia.

(Source: Executive Digest, 31 July)