SETAC 2004

Scope of the Meeting
The year 2004 has special significance as it is the year in which enlargement of the European Union takes place with the accession of 10 new Member States, including the Czech Republic. One of the most important themes for the SETAC Europe 2004 meeting is finding solutions to the current environmental problems across Europe, reflecting the main theme of the meeting: Environmental Science Solutions - A Pan-European Perspective. This theme reflects the need for building bridges between European countries in order to further develop insights and methods that support the development and maintenance of a sustainable environment.
The meeting will contribute to the development of every aspect of environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology in an enlarged Europe and provide a forum for the presentation of the state of the art in environmental science.
The meeting will be preceded by many interesting and topical short courses and workshops as part of SETAC's role in professional development. The main meeting will be composed of parallel scientific sessions with platform and poster presentations, together with Special Symposia on specific areas of science, and a daily keynote presentation.
All participants will have opportunities to interact with established environmental professionals from the private, public, and academic sectors and to meet old friends or establish new ones. Student participation is encouraged in all the activities on offer, through short courses, workshops and all sessions.
The main programme will be composed of platform and poster presentations in 6 parallel sessions and in a range of disciplines addressing both problems and solutions.

Platform and Poster sessions
Sessions have been assigned to the following key topics reflecting scientific development and its application in decision-making.
Advances and Trends in Environmental Chemistry
Progress in Ecotoxicology
Ecological and Human Risk Assessment
Development in LCA methodology and its application
Environmental Policy and Strategy

Special symposia
In the special symposia, invited speakers will present the state of the art in relevant topics addressing Pan-European Environmental Solutions. Six consecutive special symposia, running parallel to the main programme, are foreseen.
Environmental problems and solutions in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe
Science and politics - role for science in regulation, policy and shaping public perception
Integrated assessment for water management
Metals in the Environment: from fundamental science to applied risk assessment', covering terrestrial, aquatic and sediment environments
Persistent toxic substances - future challenge
OMNITOX: LCA and Risk Assessment of Toxic substances

Plenary keynote presentations
Each day as part of the main programme, international experts will present a keynote lecture, addressing the following items:
Environmental problems in Central and Eastern European Countries
Ecotoxicological effects of environmental chemicals
Global cycling of persistent toxic substances
Uncertainty in scientific analysis
Ecological realism
Tackling the ecology deficit in ecotoxicology

Short courses, Workshops, Exhibitions and Posters
Delegates are encouraged to sign up to the half day or one day professional development short courses to be held on Sunday 18 April 2004. These courses will focus on specific issues such as:
Waste management for developing countries and health care
Higher Tier Aquatic Risk Assessment of Pesticides
Multidimensional statistical analysis for application in Ecotoxicology
Results reliability, validation of measurements, one dimensional data analysis
Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR)
Multidimensional data analysis
An introduction to toxicological risk and impact modelling for assessing chemical emissions in LCA
Pesticide exposure models
Integrative sampling methods in Environment
During the main programme, there will be the traditional Trade Exhibition, closely integrated with the scientific Poster Sessions held in the large Foyer of the Prague Congress Centre. Following the opening ceremony, the Welcome Reception will take place in this area as will all coffee breaks and lunches during the week. It is also hoped to provide a Cyber Café with personal internet connections.

From 1st October onwards you can submit your abstract for platform and/or poster presentation. There are encouraged targeted papers on the specific topics below. Papers on additional topics will be considered.

1    Advances and Trends in Environmental Chemistry

Advances in environmental sampling and analytical methods
Biosensors and bioanalytical systems
Chiral contaminants
Global cycling and fate of chemicals
Abiotic and biotic transformations
Bioavailability and environmental speciation of chemicals
Sources and fate of metals in aquatic ecosystems
Sources and fate of metals in terrestrial ecosystems
Sources and fate of POPs in aquatic ecosystems
Sources and fate of POPs in terrestrial ecosystems
Environmental fate of pesticides
Atmospheric chemistry and pollution
QSAR
Persistent substances in Arctic/Alpine/remote areas
Brominated flame retardants and related compounds
New types of environmental pollutants
Pharmaceuticals and antibiotics in the environment
Polyfluorinated substances
Organometallic compounds

2    Progress in Ecotoxicology
Mixture toxicity
Multistress in ecosystems
Ecological consequences of endocrine disruptors
Population and community ecotoxicology
Vertebrate wildlife ecotoxicology
Effect assessments on soil and sediment organisms
Differential effects and extrapolation between climate zones
Mechanisms of toxic action (including hormesis, genotoxicity and immunotoxicity)
Biomarkers (including genomics, proteonomics, metabolomics
Effects of chemicals in marine and estuarine systems
Phytotoxicity
Airborne phytotoxicity
Soil organism testing as a part of the Environmental Risk Assessment of contaminated land
Effects of pesticides on terrestrial invertebrates: focus on the extrapolation of effects from the laboratory to field level
On-line biomonitoring
The use of organisms to remove chemical toxicity (bioremediation)
Ecotoxicology of metals
Ecotoxicology of POPs
Effects of pharmaceuticals in the ecosystem
Effects of veterinary drugs on terrestrial organisms, in particular dung organisms
Ecotoxicology of new types of chemicals

3    Ecological and Human Risk Assessment
Application of (Q)SAR and alternative approaches to animal testing in a regulated environment
Approaches to and validation of Environmental Risk Assessments of contaminated land
Comparison of different tiers (screening tools, deterministic and probabilistic) in ecological risk assessment of chemicals
Integrated ecological and human health risk assessment
Assessment and modelling, the effects of chemicals in the food-web
Approaches to pesticide risk mitigation in terrestrial and aquatic systems
Pesticide Exposure modelling
Ecological risk assessment of pesticides in terrestrial systems
Ecological Risk Assessment of GMOs
Ecological risk assessment of metals
The contribution of chemical and biological monitoring to ecological risk assessment
Applicability of current risk assessment approaches to developing countries
4    Development in LCA methodology and its application
LC Impact Assessment
Uncertainty and Error Calculation in LCA [interactive poster session]
LCA and Strategic Policymaking
LCA and Electricity Markets
LCA and Input-Output Analysis
LCA and Life Cycle Costing
5    Environmental Policy and Strategy
From the risk management to the sustainability management
Opportunities and challenges of new EU policy and legislation
Indicators of Sustainability
Risk Communication
Environmental economics
Environmental education
Precautionary principle and Integrated pollution prevention and control
Protection Goals
Hot spots management
Chemical weapons demilitarisation and remediation of military areas
Expert systems in risk management
Technical approaches for reduction of POPs
Please, follow those rulles/notes:
only online submitted abstracts will be accepted,
accepted abstracts will be printed only if presenters have registered and their dues have been received,
registration forms will be sent in February 2004,
authors are limited to giving one platform presentation, no restrictions on poster presentations or co-authorship.
ABSTRACT DEADLINE:     30 NOVEMBER 2003