May 4, 2021 by Becky Brown


I am really looking forward to virtual SETAC Europe this week. I have already been able to look at the programme and view some of the scientific content. There are some really nice presentations which will support my ongoing projects on endocrine disruption, microplastics and pharmaceuticals.

I encourage colleagues to take a look at our presentation on the “Reliability of fish data for endocrine disruptor hazard assessment”. The focus is mainly on published studies. In the case of the endocrine disruptor hazard assessment, we make the point that even a generally well conducted study can be difficult to interpret if individual endpoints (e.g. vitellogenin synthesis or gonad histopathology) are not reliable or are poorly reported. This topic received some attention in the endocrine disruptor session discussions at SETAC today. We discussed improving the reporting of published fish studies to avoid the need for new fish testing to confirm or refute equivocal results.

The presentation is part of Session 6.03 on “How Can Ecotoxicology Research Be Improved to Increase Utility in Regulatory Decision Making?”. Live discussion will be between 3:20 and 4:20pm (BST) on Thursday 6th May.

If you would like further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please also look out for blogs from wca colleagues Adam PetersIain Wilson and Dean Leverett which will be highlighting our activities at this year’s SETAC.