Why?
Ecotoxicology, the science
that investigates the impact of pollution on the environment is a practically
oriented science and uses empirical approaches to develop guidelines and
prescriptive limits for chemicals in the environment. Even though, these
approaches are very useful and necessary to perform Environmental Risk
Assessment, they are hardly based on the mechanistic understanding of factors
determining the impacts on the environment. The MASSIVE project is asking the WHY-question in
terms of sensitivity differences between species. Understanding the determining
parameters of sensitivity differences between species on a process based level
is the main purpose of MASSIVE. If we understand which species react sensitive
to what kind of chemicals, this knowledge can be used in Environmental Risk
Assessment and Biomonitoring.
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What?
MASSIVE is an acronym for a "Mechanisms of Arthropod Species
Sensitivity In Variable Environments". The MASSIVE project, which started in January 2006 is aiming
at predicting the response of aquatic invertebrates to stress using the traits
of taxa and the mode of action of the stressor as predictors. This will be
investigated using univariate and multivariate statistical methods, modeling
techniques and experimental approaches. The development of a tool that makes it
possible to use a trait and mode of action based approach in Biomonitoring and
Environmental Risk Assessment is ultimate goal of MASSIVE
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Aim
In this project we aim to define and quantify traits, which have predictive potential for arthropod species sensitivity towards the model pesticide chlorpyrifos
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in relation to the mechanistic processes of toxicity, i.e. the toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics by applying both theoretical, experimental and modeling approaches.
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