April 28, 2026 by Lucy Kennelly

Last week, I presented a poster at the Chemistry in the Oil Industry ‘Shaping the Future of Energy’ symposium on 21-22 April, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the European Oilfield Speciality Chemicals Association (EOSCA). The two-day symposium comprised oral presentations and posters on chemistry across the oil and gas industry including innovations in production chemistry, carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), and regulatory developments.

I was awarded a prize for joint best poster at the symposium! The poster highlighted our recent work with EOSCA on a project to examine whether there is a systematic difference in acute toxicity between marine and freshwater algae, aquatic invertebrates and fish. This work aims to understand how freshwater data may be used as an alternative to marine data under the Harmonised Mandatory Control System (HMCS) that manages the use and discharge of offshore chemicals in the North-East Atlantic, to support the ongoing alignment of the HMCS with the EU REACH regulation.

We will also be presenting this work at SETAC Europe taking place on 17-21 May in Maastricht, so keep an eye out for the poster if you are attending.

If you would like to know more about this project or our other work in regulatory ecotoxicology, please get in touch.