Project Portugal 2030

Summary

Human awareness on the challenges posed by modern society to the environment is on the rise. Increasing recognition that coastal ecosystems play an essential role in providing humans with goods and services vital for their survival and well-being has led to substantial concern on the impacts posed by anthropogenic pressure. Widespread use and abuse of psychoactive drugs represents a significant environmental concern, as their continuous release to aquatic media poses a threat to the coastal environment, and ultimately to humans depending on their resources. Despite their prevalence, the impact of psychoactive drugs such as hallucinogens, opioids, among others, on marine systems remains poorly understood and has never been studied under ecologically relevant scenarios such as light pollution, which is a pervasive threat to coastal urban ecosystems. Monitoring the levels of psychoactive drugs present in the environment is essential, but it is equally important to assess whether these levels have a significant impact to humans and the environment. The complex interplay between these drugs and ALAN can further exacerbate the challenges faced by marine systems. Light pollution disrupts natural light cycles, affecting the behavior, physiology, and ecology of marine organisms. When combined with the presence of psychoactive drugs, these stressors can have compounding effects on biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics. CHILL will tackle the much needed understanding on the presence and impact of psychoactive drugs in coastal ecosystems. By employing advanced techniques and methodologies, CHILL aims to achieve the following objectives: 1.Assess the presence of psychoactive drugs in the Portuguese coastline. Extensive monitoring will assess the distribution and levels of these substances in water and biotic compartments. Sampling will be conducted seasonally during the first year of the project and related to the different physicochemical parameters and conditions of each site, which will be chosen strategically, based on their distance to hot spots of contamination. Findings will fill existing knowledge gaps regarding contamination with different classes of psychoactive drugs in coastal environments, specifically in Portugal and will be valuable for environmental management and policymakers. 2.Evaluate environmental hazard of psychoactive drugs. CHILL will assess the potential risk of the most representative psychoactive drugs found in the Portuguese coastline. Through ecotoxicological studies and ecological and human health risk assessment approaches, CHILL aims to evaluate the extent to which these drugs pose a risk to aquatic life and human populations relying on coastal resources. First, contamination data in biotic samples will be analyzed to establish hazard quotients for human consumers. Then, a series of acute toxicity tests will be conducted to determine the levels at which these drugs pose a risk to aquatic life, and if these are environmentally relevant. 3.Understand the impact of psychoactive drugs under the relevant scenario of light pollution. By simulating ecologically relevant ALAN conditions, CHILL will elucidate how the combined stressors affect coastal environment at various levels, from subcellular to community, through a combination of cutting-edge techniques. This holistic approach will provide insights into the mechanisms of toxicity and potential ecological consequences of exposure to these stressors.