title: Chemical contamination in aquatic ecosystems.
abstract: The 21st Century's Center of Excellence (COE) Program "Coastal Marine Environmental Research" in Ehime University, funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Government of Japan, started its activities in October 2002. One of the core projects of the COE Program in Ehime University is "studies on environmental behavior of hazardous chemicals and their toxic effects on wildlife". This core project deals with studies of the local and global distribution of environmental contaminants in aquatic ecosystems, retrospective analysis of such chemicals, their toxicokinetics in humans and wildlife, molecular mechanisms to determine species-specific reactions, and sensitivity of chemically induced effects, and with the development of methodology for risk assessment for the conservation of ecological and species diversity. This presentation describes our recent achievements of this project, including research on contamination by arsenic and organohalogen pollutants in the Mekong River basin and molecular mechanisms of morphologic deformities in dioxin-exposed red seabream (Pagrus major) embryos. We established the Environmental Specimen Bank (es-BANK) in Ehime University in 2004, archiving approximately 100000 cryogenic samples containing tissues of wildlife and humans that have been collected for the past 40 years. The CMES homepage offers details of samples through online database retrieval. The es-BANK facility was in operation by the end of 2005.
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University, Matsuyama City, Japan. iwatah@agr.ehime-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hisato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Eun-Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Suguru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Agusa
authors.forename: Shinsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanabe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D004147:Dioxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D017753:Ecosystem; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000187:drug effects; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000196:embryology; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013045:Species Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical