SETAC Latin America 15th Biennial Meeting

2 – Biomarkers as Tools for Ecotoxicological Studies in Sentinel Species in Latin America

Room: L201
Course Language: Spanish
Course Level: Intermediate

This course will address issues related to different mechanisms of toxicity and the biomarkers that can be used to detect their effects on native species populations. We will include the study of biochemical parameters, genotoxicity, oxidative stress and gene expression patterns from a perspective of wildlife health, and their relationship with stressors present in the environment.

Instructors

María Fernanda Simoniello, University of the Littoral, Santa Fe, Argentina

PhD in Biological Sciences and Associate Professor at the School of Biochemical and Biological Sciences of the University of Littoral. Affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, Pharmacology and Legal Biochemistry. Main research line: Agrochemicals and their effects on human health. Scientific achievements (last 5 years): 13 scientific papers in high impact journals, 4 book chapters, more than 40 communications at national and international scientific meetings and several technical reports. Supervisor of graduate and undergraduate students. Received 8 national and internationals awards

Gisela L. Poletta, University of the Littoral/CONICET, Santa Fe

PhD of the University of Buenos Aires in the area of Biological Sciences. Independent Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). Associate Professor at the School of Biochemical and Biological Sciences of the University of Littoral. Affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology, Pharmacology and Legal Biochemistry. Main research line: Toxicological studies of pesticides in native reptile species, including biomarkers of genotoxicity, oxidative damage, antioxidant defenses, and gene expression, among others. Scientific achievements (last 5 years): 20 scientific papers in high impact journals, 4 book chapters and more than 50 communications in national and international scientific meetings. Supervisor of graduate and undergraduate students. Member of the Yacare Projects (Santa Fe, Argentina) for 20 years and of the Crocodile Specialist Group (SSC-IUCN) for 13 years. Received 14 national and internationals awards.

Mirta Menone and Gastón Iturburu, University of Mar del Plata/CONICET

3 – Development of Adverse Outcome Pathway

Room: L203 
Course Language: Spanish
Course Level: Introductory

Thousands of chemicals are produced now a days and there is a need to assess their effects on organisms fast and accurately. Adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) are conceptual frameworks that assemble existing knowledge about biological events that lead to adverse health effects in human populations and ecosystems (EPA, 2022). AOPs are used to organize the knowledge based on pieces of evidence linking the molecular event to an effect at the individual and population levels. By having organized the information available it is easier to visualize the adverse outcome to the organism(s) and the possible gaps to understand and predict it. In this course, the student will learn how an AOP is developed and how to present the data for publication. Furthermore, students will learn how to conduct a review of the literature using specific ecotox databases. Students will learn how to access the AOP database and how to use the published AOP for their projects. Finally, an example of an AOP in a published article will be presented and analyzed for a deeper understanding of the practical uses of an AOP.

Instructors

Hajime Kurita, University of Florida

Hajime G. Kurita Oyamada is from Paraguay. He obtained his doctorate at the University of Florida in the Department of Physiological Sciences of the College of Veterinary Medicine. He has an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences and a Master’s in Biotechnology Sciences, both from the Asuncion National University in Paraguay. Hajime was awarded a full scholarship for his Ph.D. studies, funded by the Government of Paraguay, being part of the first cohort ever given this award nationwide. Hajime has been involved in research focusing primarily on the effects of human activities in the environment using animal models and testing remediation strategies. Hajime is also socially active within the Japanese community in Paraguay. His interest in social activism also led him to be the founder and president of the Biology Student Association while doing undergraduate. Then, during his graduate education, he participated actively in the Veterinary Graduate Student Association, first by becoming the social chair and then the treasurer. This involvement in student activity led him to be part of the Dean search committee and a short-time member of the DEI committee at the College of Veterinary Medicine. His interests are not purely related to research. He is also interested in Life Coach and meditation as ways to cope with the stress associated in academic settings. Hajime is on his way to getting certified as a meditation teacher for university students.

Maite De Maria, U.S. Geological Survey

De Maria graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida. Currently, she is a contractor for U.S. Geological Survey as a postdoctoral researcher. She has always worked on the relationship between anthropogenic activities and marine mammals. During her Bachelor in Science, she analyzed the interactions between sea lions and fisheries from a traditional and life-changing participatory research approach. Later, in her Master’s in Ecology and Evolution, she addressed the accumulation of trace elements in the dentin of sea lions and fur seals based on their feeding habits. Her Ph.D. focused on understanding the physiological effects of contaminants in wildlife, particularly the renal and immune consequences of exposure to herbicides in largemouth bass and manatees. My expertise relays on molecular techniques to understand the consequences of contaminants in wildlife through in vivo and in vitro exposures.

Nancy Denslow, University of Florida

Denslow’s research involves developing and using molecular biomarkers to evaluate changes in gene expression depending on stress or exposure to contaminants. Molecular approaches including transcriptomics, proteomics, and lipidomics were developed for several non-model species, including fish, gastropods, and coral. Fish swim in waters that are contaminated by superfund chemicals and emerging contaminants of concern and, thus, provide a direct measure of effects of the contaminants in vertebrates.

4 – Environmental Monitoring and Remediation: Study of Environmental Contaminants and Evaluation of Effects by Ecotoxicity Bioassays

Room: L101 
Course Language: Portuguese
Course Level: Introductory

Present concepts and studies for monitoring organic and inorganic environmental contaminants. Present concepts and studies on chemical environmental remediation proposals using nanomaterials and bioremediation. Present concepts and studies on some ecotoxicity bioassays applied to studies of the effects of environmental contaminants.

Instructors

Jairo Lisboa Rodrigues, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri

Márcia Cristina da Silva Faria, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri

5 – Modeling Tools in Assessing Pesticide Exposure to Ground and Surface Water

Room: L207
Course Language: Portuguese
Course Level: Introductory

Modelling tools have been used for regulatory purposes in environmental risk assessment in several countries. They offer an alternative to estimate pesticide concentrations in water and soil to demonstrate the safe use of products under various environmental conditions, especially where monitoring data is scarce such as in Latin America. Scenario dependent models can include local data such as soil properties, weather patterns, field hydrology, and pesticide use patterns and fate. This training course will provide the participants a hands-on experience of working with modelling tools to estimate exposure of pesticides in ground and surface water. The training will introduce you to scenario-dependent models (e.g., PWC, Andes, PEARL, MACRO, and others) and show a demonstration of their use, allowing participants to work through a series of practical exercises. It will cover the required dataset, output interpretation, derivation of input parameters and options for refinement (such as input parameter refinement) and mitigations. The course is suitable for environmental modelers, students, consultants, industry practitioners, regulators and others interested in learning about environmental exposure assessment for pesticides.

Instructors

Gustavo Souza Santos, Syngenta Crop Protection

Ph.D. in Ecology and Conservation from the Federal University of Paraná – Brazil. He has been working as Strategic Scientist at Syngenta, focusing on risk assessment (aquatic and terrestrial), Efate modelling tools, soil/water dynamics, biomonitoring, and aquatic toxicology.

Rafael Ramon, BASF SA

Ph.D. in Soil Science from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil and Ph.D. in Geoscience from the University of Paris-Saclay. He has been working as LATAM Environmental Fate modeler at BASF SA, providing modelling support focused on risk assessment. He has strong experience in landscape processes modelling, erosion, runoff, and sediment transport.

Rômulo Scorza Júnior, Embrapa

Ph.D. in Environmental Science – Wageningen University & Research, in the Netherlands. He is a senior researcher at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA). He has been working with modeling and simulation of pesticide fate in the environment and the development of exposure scenarios for pesticide risk assessment to be used in some modeling tools (e.g., PWC, PEARL and MACRO).

6 – Plastic Pollution, Chemicals and Their Impacts: From Macro to Microplastics Analysis

Room: L204 
Course Language: Spanish
Course Level: Intermediate

There is now an estimated 30 Mt of plastic waste in seas and oceans, and a further 109 Mt has accumulated in rivers. Rivers constitute unique environments because the safeguard biodiversity and provides water resources. However, freshwater biodiversity is under significant threat, with declines of >90% in vertebrate populations. But, rivers can account for nearly 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the oceans. All plastics are made of chemicals, starting from basic polymers and solvents, additives such as plasticizers, and others. Many of these chemicals are released throughout the plastic life cycle – from the production of polymers to manufacturing, use and disposal of plastics products – with potentially significant impacts on human health and the environment. In addition, the transition to a circular economy model is compromised by the presence of hazardous chemicals in recycled plastic. Nevertheless, there is a poor understanding of such emerging impacts into aquatic environments and in recycled materials. Plastic loading of chemicals has been reported in marine litter, packaging and toys; and provide evidence of their occurrence and likelu risk to human health.

Instructors

Karla Pozo, Universidad San Sebastian

Karla Pozo is researcher Faculty of Engineering and technology at Universidad San Sebastian in Concepción Chile. She is also associate researcher at RECETOX, Masaryk University in the city of Brno Czech Republic. Karla Pozo has over twenty years of working experience in the field of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). In the last ten years she has studied the nearshore bays behaviors in central Chile and the impacts of plastic pollution in biotic and abiotic compartments. Karla Pozo is co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications; she actively collaborates with leading national and international Institutions. She moved from Chile in 2000 to Italy where she completed her PhD studies at university of Siena (UNISI). In 2004, she got a postdoctoral position at Air quality branch, Environment Canada in the city of Toronto, Canada. From 2007 to 2012 she conducted research and academic activities at the department of environmental science at University of Siena (UNISI) in Siena Italy. She has strongly contributed to studies on long-range transport of chemicals and investigated their presence, distribution, and fate along latitudinal and altitudinal north-south transects in different continents. In the last ten years, she has been investigating the burden of chemicals, including POPs, emergent contaminant, and additives in plastics. Marine litter characterization and loading of chemicals from coastal areas along Chilean coast.

Yago Guida, Universidad Federal de Rio de Janeiro

Yago Guida has a bachelor degree in biotechnology, a Master of Science in Biology with emphasis in Environmental Biophysics, and a PhD in Environmental Chemistry. Since 2011, he is carrying out research lines on the environmental dynamics of hazardous chemicals and their impacts on the environment and human health. In 2018, he started working on the topic of hazardous chemicals in the technosphere and as an expert consultant for the United Nations Environment Programme, the Regional Centre of Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) for Latin America and the Caribbean Region, the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, and others, regarding chemical inventories, sampling, screening and quantification methodologies, and polices on POPs. Currently as a Research Associate at the Material Cycles Division of the National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan, he is investigating the life cycle of hazardous chemicals in industrial products and consumer goods and their impacts on the implementation of more circular economies. Dr. Guida has been awarded in different international conferences, published several scientific papers, and served as a peer reviewer, in international scientific journals, as well as, supervised bachelor students and served as a member of the International Panel on Chemical Pollution (IPCP); the Japan Society for Environmental Chemistry (JEC); the Scientific Plastic Pollution Alliance of Chile (SPLACH); and the advising board of Ministry of Health of Brazil, for the implementation of a national human biomonitoring program for chemical substances.

Andres Arias, Instituto Oceanografico Argentino

Dr. Andrés Arias is an Independent CONICET researcher, Professor of the Department of Chemistry at the Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina), Specialist in persistent organic pollutants (POPs) introduced by man into the marine, coastal and fluvial environment (Argentine Institute of Oceanography , IADO). He is Editor of Marine Science at Taylor & Francis and Oceanography at Springer Nature; He is also an Editor in Science of the Total Environment and Aquatic Toxicology (Springer), author and regular reviewer for international journals. He has published 76 peer reviewed indexed papers (Hindex 19), 25 book chapters, has edited 4 books and pubished 85 conference proceedings/abstracts; 5 Technical Reports and 30 Project Reports. He is responsible for research projects (MinCyT, FONCyT and UNS), and Supervisor of 8 doctoral students and 2 post-doctoral students. Dr. Arias is the Argentine representative at the United Nations (UNEP) for the International Committee on Marine Litter and Microplastics and is a member of the GESAMP (Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection) Working Group 40 (Plastic marine garbage and microplastics).

Lorena Ríos Mendoza, University of Wisconsin-Superior

Lorena Ríos Mendoza is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and an internationally renowned researcher on microplastic pollution in oceans and lakes. Ríos Mendoza is a graduate of the doctoral program in Coastal Oceanography offered by the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC). Her work on microscopic plastic particles has been developed in the so-called Great North Pacific Garbage Patch (Pacific Gyre) and in the Great Lakes region, including Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Superior. Her research has documented the amount and types of plastic pollution in water, sediment, and tissue. This contamination is attributed to degraded consumer and industrial waste, as well as that associated with personal care products and cosmetics.

Lorena Ríos has also documented the role that such particles play in the attraction and concentration of persistent organic pollutants such as PCBs, which are a group of synthetic chemical substances, making them more likely to be ingested by aquatic organisms. Her work has been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature and disseminated by publications such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, the National Geographic website, Atlantic Magazine, among others. Her research has prompted the enactment of laws in the US states of Wisconsin and Michigan to ban the use of personal care products made from microplastic bases.

7 – O uso do bioindicador Allium cepa em ensaios de citogenotoxicidade de xenobiontes e de amostras ambientais

Room: 105
Course Language: Portuguese
Course Level: Introductory

Importância dos bioindicadores vegetais; Conceituação teórica sobre o ensaio Allium cepa; Avaliação da citotoxicidade e genotoxicidade de contaminantes e de amostras ambientais; Aplicabilidade do ensaio em monitoramento ambiental; Avaliação da eficiência dos processos de biodegradação e biorremediação de resíduos e de ambientes contaminados; Avaliação do modo de ação de contaminantes, pelo ensaio de alterações cromossômicas; Diferenças entre ensaios de toxicidade com A. cepa e outros bioindicadores; Elaboração simulada de desenho experimental usando o bioindicador A. cepa.

Instructor 

Maria Aparecida Marin Morales, UNESP – Rio Claro-SP

Maria Aparecida Marin Morales (lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6712127307223557) Filiada à Instituição Universidade estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP – Rio Claro-SP). Possui graduação em Ciências Biológicas, mestrado e doutorado em Ciências Biológicas (Biologia Vegetal) pela Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (1992). Livre-docente em Biologia Celular, junto ao Departamento de Biologia do Instituto de Biociências/UNESP de Rio Claro. Tem pós-doutorado na área de Avaliação de recursos hídricos, junto ao Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (CSIC), Barcelona/Espanha, sob a supervisão do Dr. Dr. Benjamin Piña. É professora associada do IB/UNESP de Rio Claro. É docente permanente do Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Celular, Molecular e Microbiologia do Instituto de Biociências/Unesp- Rio Claro-SP. Tem especialidade em Genética ecotoxicológica, atuando principalmente nos temas: toxicidade, genotoxicidade, mutagenicidade, análise de expressão gênica e estresse oxidativo, destacando os ensaios de aberrações cromossômicas em Allium cepa; citogenotoxicidade em células de mamíferos mantidas em culturas. Atualmente é vice-presidentes da Sociedade Brasileira de Ecotoxicologia (ECOTOX); membro do Conselho Diretor da MutagenBrasil; membro associado do SETAC, Internacional e Latino América; e membro associado da ALAMCTA- Latino América.

8 – Using Fish for Monitoring Multiple Stressors in Aquatic Systems

Room: L208 
Course Language: Spanish
Course Level: Intermediate

There are many different monitoring programs that currently operate in river basins, including programs for licenses and permits, regional monitoring programs, status and trends, environmental impact assessments, environmental effects monitoring, and research programs. Many programs suffer from trying to ask too many questions and from poorly study designs, too much flexibility, and variability in implementation. The many difference approaches and objectives means that there is not any overarching framework, common philosophy, common methodologies, integration, or consistency in timing between programs. The course will also present key questions to be considered during the design of the program, including the philosophical differences and limitations of different monitoring approaches and different receptors (i.e., community versus population versus individual). Study design considerations will be discussed including: species selection; measurement endpoints; selection of sites (including reference sites); timing of monitoring; frequency of monitoring; number of samples (and number of fish per sample); and, development of data quality objectives to understand a priori when a change is meaningful, and to insure that the design is adequate to detect that meaningful change. Examples of basic study designs will also be provided along with tips for developing study designs when there is no prior knowledge of the ecosystem. Data collection methods and considerations will be discussed. Detailed guidance on data analysis and challenges will be provided and will include: types of data and analyses; outliers and data QA/QC, immature and non-spawning fish; statistical tests and assumptions; non-parametric alternatives; analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), non-parallel slopes; and, common mistakes and misuses of statistical procedures. Interpretation of monitoring data can be challenging and participants will learn how to consider confounding factors, natural variability, ecological relevance and pseudoreplication. The course will conclude with guidance on designing regional monitoring frameworks.

Instructors

Gustavo Chiang, Universidad Andres Bello, Chile

Gustavo Chiang was trained as a marine biologist and is a PhD in Environmental Sciences (Universidad de Concepción). He has been working in marine and continental aquatic ecosystems for almost 17 years. The study of pollution and its effects has taken him to remote areas such as the Atacama Desert (Loa River), different rivers and coast of Patagonia, Antarctica Canada, Argentina and Galapagos. All this within multiple national (16) and international (3) projects, which have resulted in >50 scientific articles, 3 educational books, several chapters in popular books on conservation (7) and academic books (2). He is currently an associated professor at UNAB (FCsdV), adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo (Canada), member of the scientific committee of SETAC Latin America.

Paulina Bahamonde, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Chile

Bahamonde is an ecotoxicologist, biochemist (Universidad de Concepción), and PhD in Biology (University of New Brunswick, Canada). Her research is based on the development of environmental monitoring programs and molecular indicators of toxicity with a focus on improving our ability to evaluate ecosystem health resulting from the interaction of anthropogenic activities using anthropogenic activities using wild populations as integrators of environmental conditions. environmental conditions. Using a suite of tools from transcriptomics to transcriptomics to the individual/population Dr Bahamnode assess anthropogenic effects with an emphasis on endocrine disruption, persistent organic pollutants and trace metals. In addition, she also has 8 years of experience in the coordination and execution of scientific research and environmental scientific research and environmental education programs to promote ecosystem conservation. ecosystems.

9 – Ecological Risk Assessment of Contaminated Land

Room: L205 
Course Language:Portuguese
Course Level: Introductory

Participants will have a general understanding of the process of planning and preparing an ERA, including conceptual model design, analysis plan, selection of ecotoxicological assays and ecological assessments for lines of evidence, identification and interpretation of ecological effects. Active involvement of participants will be encouraged.

Target audience: environmental professionals, consultants, government officials and students.

Syllabus: General principles and planning of the ARE: conceptual model, analysis plan, detailed assessment, risk calculations. The ARE triad: choice of chemical, ecotoxicological and ecological assessments in the lines of evidence. Perspectives and challenges. Case studies with practical application.

Instructor

Júlia Carina Niemeyer

10 – Chemical, Analytical and Ecotoxicological Tools to Assure Sustainability of Agroecosystems

Room: L206 
Course Language: Spanish
Course Level: Introductory

The first section of the course will show different tools aiming the evaluation of the impact caused by the use of pesticides in agroecosystems:

• The development of analytical methodologies for pesticide residue analysis of key ecotoxicological sentinels to assess the ubiquity of pesticides in environmental compartments and their application to pesticide monitoring. Use of machine learning models.
• The most relevant evaluation tools for risk assessment used by regulatory bodies.
• The impact of herbicide mixtures on different soil functions.

The second section will focus on mitigation strategies for the minimization of the presence of pesticides in the environment:

• Alternatives for the control of fungal diseases, following GAPs, to ensure food safety.
• Control of punctual contaminations in different productive systems.

After the presentations, an exchange of experiences will be conducted by the professors’ team and the audience.

Instructors 

Natalia Besil, CURE-Rocha, UDELAR

11 – Implementation of Alternative Methods to the Use of Laboratory Animals in Safety Studies of Products for Human Use and Agrochemicals

Room: L202 
Course Language: Spanish
Course Level: Introductory

During the last decades, much progress has been made in the welfare of animals used in research, establishing different and detailed regulations and protocols. These regulations state that research into alternative approaches must be encouraged and the results of these investigations should be disseminated in order to promote and develop these new methodologies.

At this point it is necessary to point out that, for the purposes of the protection of the laboratory animal, the regulations consider it subjects of the right to be protected and that they present pain perception systems.

All these new trends are related to a global replacement context and in this sense in Latin America there is increasing regulatory acceptance and studies on the scope of implementation of these alternative methods in the safety assessment of products for human use. such as cosmetics, those for home use, among others.
For this reason, it is considered necessary to educate and train the work teams of the different areas with methods and tools to consolidate the implementation of non-animal tests and reduce them.

Instructors

Maria Laura Gutierrez, Institute of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine of the UBA

Biologist, PhD from the University of Buenos Aires. Adjunct Researcher at CONICET developing tasks at the Institute of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine of the UBA. Director of the Laboratory of Alternative Methods to animal experimentation. Member of the EBAL technological platform created with the support of the National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology.

Juan Ignacio Pina, Atanor/Albaugh

Agricultural Engineer, Graduate in Agrifood Management, and is studying the Specialization in Hygiene and Safety in Agricultural Work at the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Buenos Aires, and has completed a Master’s Degree in Technologies for the Transformation of Agrifood Products from the University of Perugia, Italy. Since 2008, he has worked in the Regulatory Affairs areas of well-known companies that produce and market phytosanitary products, currently serving as Regulatory Affairs Manager for South Latin America at Atanor / Albaugh. He also develops academic activities, currently working as Adjunct Professor of the Chair of Agrifood Systems of the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Buenos Aires.