organism physiology, the development of a panel of markers analysed in
haemocytes, including cytotoxic, immunotoxic and genotoxic responses and their
integration into a ‘cellular index’, would provide (1) a better understanding of the
overall toxicity on the mussel’s physiology and (2) new data for integrative tools
designed for the diagnosis of environmental quality.
4 Combining Multidisciplinary Data for a Global
Environmental Quality Diagnosis: Development
of an Integrated Approach
4.1 Introduction
The large multidisciplinary scientific network involved in the PIREN-Seine
programme has been particularly solicited in the field of ecotoxicology for several
years. As a matter of example, between 2011 and 2012, a dozen research groups
collaborated on a synchronous and integrative multi-marker approach to assess the
chemical and ecological/ecotoxicological status of the three pilot sites, situated
upstream and downstream of the Paris agglomeration along the Seine River. This
1-year monitoring study generated about 550 variables per site for each of the four
sampling periods (corresponding to distinct seasons). These variables characterised
in particular (1) the metallic and organic contamination levels in the water column
and in the sediment, (2) the bioaccumulation levels of pollutants of concern and
(3) the biological responses (biomarkers) in transplanted gammarids, as well as
(4) the (eco)toxicity of water and sediment samples using laboratory bioassays.
Embedding such a multidisciplinary data set in a ‘Weight of Evidence’ (WOE)
approach is widely recommended and even required by regulatory authorities for
efficient environmental risk assessment (ERA) [3, 58]. The principle of the WOE
approach is based on integrating and combining complementary data from different
packages, called ‘Lines of Evidence’ (LOEs), in order to draw an overall conclusion
on the ecological status of the aquatic ecosystem considered [59]. The environmental
diagnosis thus results from the combination of contamination levels, bioavailability
analyses and biological responses in key species or model organisms at different
levels of organisation [60, 61]. A helpful model converting a conceptual WOE
strategy to evaluate sediment hazard into logical flow charts and calculations was
proposed by [62], which was adapted to the data set acquired within the PIRENSeine programme [20].
Experience Gained from Ecotoxicological Studies in the Seine River and. . .
259
haemocytes, including cytotoxic, immunotoxic and genotoxic responses and their
integration into a ‘cellular index’, would provide (1) a better understanding of the
overall toxicity on the mussel’s physiology and (2) new data for integrative tools
designed for the diagnosis of environmental quality.
4 Combining Multidisciplinary Data for a Global
Environmental Quality Diagnosis: Development
of an Integrated Approach
4.1 Introduction
The large multidisciplinary scientific network involved in the PIREN-Seine
programme has been particularly solicited in the field of ecotoxicology for several
years. As a matter of example, between 2011 and 2012, a dozen research groups
collaborated on a synchronous and integrative multi-marker approach to assess the
chemical and ecological/ecotoxicological status of the three pilot sites, situated
upstream and downstream of the Paris agglomeration along the Seine River. This
1-year monitoring study generated about 550 variables per site for each of the four
sampling periods (corresponding to distinct seasons). These variables characterised
in particular (1) the metallic and organic contamination levels in the water column
and in the sediment, (2) the bioaccumulation levels of pollutants of concern and
(3) the biological responses (biomarkers) in transplanted gammarids, as well as
(4) the (eco)toxicity of water and sediment samples using laboratory bioassays.
Embedding such a multidisciplinary data set in a ‘Weight of Evidence’ (WOE)
approach is widely recommended and even required by regulatory authorities for
efficient environmental risk assessment (ERA) [3, 58]. The principle of the WOE
approach is based on integrating and combining complementary data from different
packages, called ‘Lines of Evidence’ (LOEs), in order to draw an overall conclusion
on the ecological status of the aquatic ecosystem considered [59]. The environmental
diagnosis thus results from the combination of contamination levels, bioavailability
analyses and biological responses in key species or model organisms at different
levels of organisation [60, 61]. A helpful model converting a conceptual WOE
strategy to evaluate sediment hazard into logical flow charts and calculations was
proposed by [62], which was adapted to the data set acquired within the PIRENSeine programme [20].
Experience Gained from Ecotoxicological Studies in the Seine River and. . .
259