Biomarkers are necessary tools for establishing an early diagnosis of environmental risk. At INERIS, the development and validation of biomarkers in three-spined stickleback fish have provided a complementary set of biological indicators. However, the main limitations of these biomarker measurements for assessing ecosystem quality lie in extrapolating responses from one biological organizational scale to another, from the laboratory to the field, and from one species to another.

In practice, one of the only feasible means to bridge the gap between experimental observations and the protected biological unit is the use of mechanistic mathematical models. The development of such models requires available data on all biological levels to be linked: biomarkers, individual traits, and population dynamics.

Experiments conducted in recent years on bisphenol A substitutes (BPS and BPF) in the laboratory and in an experimental ecosystem (mesocosm) provide the necessary database for the development of these models. Indeed, during these experiments, measurements of early effect biomarkers on exposed fish were conducted in parallel with monitoring the effects on their population dynamics (individuals exposed throughout their lives and naive to the substances).

Thus, based on available experimental data and ongoing mathematical models, the aim of the phd is to link early effect biomarkers to effects on organism performance and subsequently to long-term consequences for populations.

Projet lié : PARC WP5 Activity 5.1.2b