SEASINK 2008 International Conference Oporto, Portugal, 26-28 June 2008
Researchers, students and other professionals are now invited to the SEASINK 2008 Conference, to be held in Oporto, Portugal on 26-28 June 2008. The conference is organised by the Global Change, Energy, Environment and Bioengineering R & D Unit at the University Fernando Pessoa in Portugal. Oceans, representing about 70% of the earth surface, are considered as deposits for a large number of anthropogenic residues. Receiving input from human activities through land drainage, atmospheric deposition, rivers, and direct dumping, oceans act as sinks for several classes of compounds. There are many problems associated with the deposition of residues in the oceans, both from an environmental and a health perspective. Indeed, one of the most important scientific challenges today is to prevent that the carrying capacity of marine ecosystems to human induced stresses is exceeded. SEASINK 2008 is being organized aiming at discussing approaches, methods, projects and other initiatives related to the deposition of residues in the oceans. The thematic sessions are as follows: 1. Organic compounds and effects Pharmaceutical drugs and environmental contamination; hydrocarbons and their derivatives; medication and additives in aquaculture; pesticides and other chemicals used in agricultural processes: a) Biomarkers and toxicity criteria, novel biomarkers and the future of toxicity assessment b) Environmental chemistry c) Individual, population and community level effects d) Physiological effects of drugs in the environment e) Mechanisms of toxicity vs. pharmacological mechanisms f) Endocrine disruption g) Long term effects h) Carcinogenesis i) Environmental chemistry 2. Inorganic contaminants Metals, acid mine drainages, gases, radioactive compounds, domestic and industrial effluents; agricultural runoff. a) Assessment of aquatic contamination by inorganic species b) Environmental contamination by acid mine drainage and human impact c) Long term effects caused by radioactive compounds d) Microcontaminants and evolution e) Food sources and contamination 3. Climate change effects on toxicity of compounds in the Ocean Global warming; oceanic CO2 pump; oceanic acidification; biodiversity modifications. a) challenges to scientific community: new quest for assessment alternatives b) new dispersion patterns of contaminants c) threats to fish stocks and potential effects on human health d) aquatic contamination by atmospheric deposition of chemical species 4. Regional approaches Impact of pollutants on tropical ecosystems: mangroves and coral reefs; tools for tropical and sub-tropical ecotoxicity assessment. High latitude and deep-sea impacts of contaminants. a) Contamination of tropical coastal areas b) Polar oceanic toxicology c) Deep-sea toxicology Abstracts may be submitted until the 15th March 2008. Authors will be notified about the acceptance by the 30th March 2008 and the registration deadline is the 30th April 2008. Further details are available from the Conference Secretariat: Universidade Fernando Pessoa A/C Paula Dias Praça 9 de Abril, 349 4249-004 Porto Portugal Phone: +351 22 507 13 00 - Fax: + 351 22 550 82 69 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://seasink.ufp.pt > >
