WP 1: Chemical analyses of test substances in water and biota and bioanalytics of stress response

WP 1 first aims at identifying and quantifying relevant test substances from the groups of pharma-ceuticals (antidiabetics and neuroactive drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and food additives (artificial sweeteners) in surface waters partly using existing expertise. The focus is on substances of high consumption and environmental relevance. Based on this analysis, the final test compounds will be defined (e.g. metformin, fluoxetine and sucralose), and specific methods for their analysis in environmental samples and biota (WPs 5.3 and 6.2) will be implemented. Secondly, new analytical methods in environmental bioanalysis will be developed in order to characterize the organismic metabolic responses to these chemicals, i.e. looking at glucocorticoids such as cortisol [65] and neurotransmitters such as serotonin in fish blood and brain.