In vitro bioassays have a long tradition for hazard assessment of chemicals as well as for water quality monitoring. Here we apply these tools to mixtures extracted from pooled samples covering the continuum of environment to human, including water, fish, milk and human serum. We developed a test battery of 22 in vitro bioassays that broadly covered developmental neurotoxicity, thyroid hormone system disruption, reproductive toxicity, genotoxicity and adaptive stress responses. Putative adverse outcome pathways synthesized from diverse literature sources served as a starting point for the selection of the bioassays. Most assays responded to wastewater with effecs and cytotoxicity decreasing from wastewater over surface water to drinking water. Serum samples pooled from diverse population groups in Australia and Europe were extracted with solid-phase extraction yielding broad-spectrum extracts of chemicals of a medium hydrophobicity range including neutral and charged organic chemicals. 50-60 % of the bioassays responded to the dosed serum extracts. All groups of mode of action were affected with the exception of genotoxicity. High specificity was observed for disruption on thyroid hormone system and neurotoxicity. Through a global profiling approach (suspect screening), 24 endogenous chemicals and environmental pollutants were identified with high confidence and were quantified, among many more qualitatively confirmed. Mixture modelling using detected concentrations and bioassay data for single chemicals demonstrated that little of the effect could be explained by the quantified chemicals. Endogenous compounds also contributed to mixture effects and future work will need to establish a baseline of effects caused by endogenous compounds and differentiate those from the effects triggered by environmental pollutants. Bioassays are a promising tool to identify bioactive chemical mixtures in environmental and human biomonitoring.

The aim of this study was to compare the transfer of primary aromatic amines (PAAs) from napkins into cold water extract (CWE) with transfer into four different food matrices. An HPLC-MS/MS multi-analyte method for quantification of 26 PAAs in CWE was validated and applied. In addition, the method was validated for seven different PAAs in four different food matrices (cucumber, rice, pickled gherkin and butter cookie) representing wet, dry, acidic and fatty food. The CWEs of 12 coloured napkin samples were analysed, and 3 napkins released more than 0.01 mg kg-1 PAAs into the CWE. These three napkins were chosen for transfer testing with food samples. In total, seven different PAAs were quantified in the food samples. Results show that the transfer of the tested PAAs into the CWE is in most cases comparable to the transfer into the tested food samples. In some cases, the CWE overestimates transfer into food, except for the transfer of aniline into pickled gherkin, where the CWE underestimates transfer. Therefore, the CWE serves as an adequate and certainly not overestimating simulation of reality for the tested transfer of PAAs into the food samples.

Vibrio is a genus of bacteria present in surface and coastal waters as well as in marine organisms worldwide. In many countries, pathogenic Vibrio species are a main cause of bacterial diarrhea, which may result from comsumption of contaminated seafood and fish products or from drinking contaminated water. Vibrio infections may also gain in importance in our regions due to global warming and the increase in the world trade of seafood. The research network "VibrioNet" studies pathogenic Vibrios in the marine environment and in seafood consumed by humans as a potential, new emerging zoonotic agent. An assessment of the risk arising from pathogenic non-cholera-vibrios in central Europe is the target of a multidisciplinary research effort. The research network will be strengthened by cooperations with international partners from countries in which Vibrio infections play a major role (Bangladesh, Chile, India, Thailand, and Vietnam).