ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ON THE BIOAVAILABILITY OF EMERGING POLLUTANTS - ACIDOCEAN

• Grant number: 17/07353-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2017
• End date: January 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Augusto Cesar
• Grantee: Augusto Cesar
• Host Institution: Instituto de Saúde e Sociedade (ISS). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Baixada Santista. Santos , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Aldo Ramos Santos ; Camilo Dias Seabra Pereira ; Denis Moledo de Souza Abessa ; Fernando Sanzi Cortez ; Ítalo Braga de Castro ; Luciana Lopes Guimaraes ; Luciane Alves Maranho ; Manoela Romanó de Orte ; Rodrigo Brasil Choueri ; Ronaldo José Torres ; Tomas Angel Del Valls Casillas
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/06815-2 - Evaluation of the effects of ocean acidification on the biodisponibility of drugs in bivalves, BP.TT

Abstract

The technology of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in marine geological structure has been proposed on the London Convention (on the prevention of marine pollution) as a measure mitigation of global warming. In Brazil, oil exploration activities at high depths already include CO2 injection to increase the oil removal by pressure from wells thereby increasing the extraction efficiency of the system. However, accidental escape of CO2 can occur, resulting in different effects on the marine ecosystem, especially related to the mobility of emerging contaminants from the sediment to the water column. Since the last decade, several studies have reported the presence and effects of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCP) in marine coastal zone, however, there are little knowledge on the bioavailability and effects associated to the behavior of these compounds face a possible ocean acidification scenery. This project aims to investigate the potential environmental impacts associated with the carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) leaks and ocean acidification on the PPCP bioavailability, toxicity, biomarkers and bioaccumulation. Therefore, a CO2 escape simulator has been developed in laboratory scale for conducting ecotoxicological tests. An integrated approach based on the weighting of different "lines of evidence" (LOE) will be used, which includes chemical characterization, toxicity tests at different levels of biological organization and bioaccumulation, taking into account changes in the pH levels. This method allows predicting the effects of CO2 leakage associated to emerging compounds contamination in small or large scale, as well the levels of impact. The results will be applied to regulate the use of this technology in Brazilian jurisdictional waters (tropical and subtropical) and optimize test protocols for risk assessment of this new activity, thus providing a tool for decision making that can be used by the proper environmental agencies and companies in the oil and gas sector. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DA SILVA, LETICIA FERNANDA; NOBRE, CAIO RODRIGUES; MORENO, BEATRIZ BARBOSA; SEABRA PEREIRA, CAMILO DIAS; DE SOUZA ABESSA, DENIS MOLEDO; CHOUERI, RODRIGO BRASIL; GUSSO-CHOUERI, PALOMA KACHEL; CESAR, AUGUSTO. Non-destructive biomarkers can reveal effects of the association of microplastics and pharmaceuticals or personal care products. Marine Pollution Bulletin, v. 177, p. 10-pg., 2022-03-04. (17/07353-7, 17/04970-5, 17/12193-9)