Identifying Suitable Strains as Surrogates for for Horticultural Products.

A laboratory-based study testing 9 strains independently and a cocktail of 11 strains was carried out. The aim was to identify suitable strain(s) to model in inactivation experiments. Three separate inactivation procedures and a hurdle combination of the three were employed: thermal inactivation (55°C), UV-C irradiation (245 nm), and chemical sanitizer (Tsunami 100, a mixture of acetic acid, peroxyacetic acid, and hydrogen peroxide).

Lessons learned from rapid environmental risk assessments for prioritization of alien species using expert panels.

Limiting the spread and impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) on biodiversity and ecosystems has become a goal of global, regional and national biodiversity policies. Evidence based management of IAS requires support by risk assessments, which are often based on expert judgment. We developed a tool to prioritize potentially new IAS based on their ecological risks, socio-economic impact and feasibility of management using multidisciplinary expert panels.

Crude oil affecting the biomass of the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus: Comparing a simple and complex population model.

In the current study differences were evaluated between a complex 3D multistage population model (SINMOD) and a simpler consumer-resource population model for estimating the effects of crude oil on the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus. The SINTEF OSCAR model was used to simulate hypothetical oil spills in the Lofoten area in 1995, 1997, and 2001. Both population models simulated a negligible effect of crude oil on the Calanus' biomass when assuming low species sensitivity.

Time-varying effects of aromatic oil constituents on the survival of aquatic species: Deviations between model estimates and observations.

There is a need to study the time course of toxic chemical effects on organisms because there might be a time lag between the onset of chemical exposure and the corresponding adverse effects. For aquatic organisms, crude oil and oil constituents originating from either natural seeps or human activities can be relevant case studies. In the present study the authors tested a generic toxicokinetic model to quantify the time-varying effects of various oil constituents on the survival of aquatic organisms.

Evaluating the contribution of ingested oil droplets to the bioaccumulation of oil components--a modeling approach.

The dietary uptake of oil droplets by aquatic organisms has been suggested as a possible exposure pathway for oil-related chemicals. We confronted two bioaccumulation models, one including and one neglecting oil droplet uptake, with measured polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) body burdens of five marine species. The model without oil droplet uptake was able to predict 75% of the observations within one order of magnitude.