MESA Principal Investigator, Dr Tim Sullivan, along with Dr Debbie Chapman of the UNEP GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre (CDC), has co-authored a new publication, published in One Earth, and entitled The role of water quality monitoring in the sustainable use of ambient waters. The article examines the current status of water monitoring programmes, and highlights gaps and shortcomings, as well as recommendations for future requirements.

MESA Principal Investigator, Dr Tim Sullivan, and PhD candidate, Hannah Binner, have, along with Prof Mairead Harding and Dr Naghmeh Kamali of the Oral Health Services Research Centre (Cork University Dental School & Hospital), co-authored a new publication, entitled Characteristics of wastewater originating from dental practices using predominantly mercury-free dental materials. The study examines the composition and characteristics of wastewater from dental streams, and analyses the ecotoxicity, particulate load and overall risk from this understudied source of environmental contamination. This article addresses a knowledge gap, and highlights central findings that include the presence of micro- and nanoscale particles in dental wastewater, suggesting dental wastewater could act as a pathway for nanoparticles to enter the environment, and an EC50 (48h, D. magna) of as little as 0.2 mL/L of dental wastewater.

MESA Principal Investigator, Dr Tim Sullivan, and PhD candidate, Irene O'Callaghan, have, along with Dr Dara Fitzpatrick of the School of Chemistry (UCC), co-authored a recent publication, entitled Thiophilicity is a determinant of bioaccumulation in benthic fauna. This study examines the uptake and bioaccumulation of sediment-bound contaminants in benthic macroinvertebrates. It is shown that the rate of bioaccumulation is linked to the elemental thiophilicity of the contaminant. The paper offers new insight into the mechanisms of bioaccumulation and triophic transfer in the aquatic environment, and presents evidence supporting the existence of a thiol-mediated process in benthic fauna.