The section of ecotoxicology is primarily performing research on aquatic animal health. The research profile can be divided into 5 themes.
-Development of test models and biomarkers based on fish and amphibians for risk assessment of chemicals with the potential to interfere with reproduction, early development and sexual differentiation. The work is based on two model species, zebrafish and Xenopus tropicalis.
-Health monitoring of wild fish from the Baltic Sea with focus on reproductive health. We have a long tradition to investigate the cause to significant recruitment problems for instance the M74 syndrome in Baltic salmon. During the last years our focus has been on perch, roach, three-spined stickleback and other species of relatively low commercial value, but very significant from an ecological perspective.
-The impact of industrial and domestic effluents on fish. The focus has been on effectiveness of various sewage treatment processes and various risk scenarios for aquatic life.
-Risk assessment of persistent pollutants including brominated flame retardants, perfluorinated acids and brominated dioxins by use of the zebrafish and Xenopus models which we have established.
-Health related environmental microbiology; quantification of the effect on a population from the exposure to microorganisms from waste streams from the society and the barrier effects provided by treatment.