CUTE

During the summer, days of sunshine are at their highest, in terms of both frequency and intensity, which directly leads to a rise in beach visitor numbers, with the the knock-on effect of a significant increase in the use of sunscreen. Meanwhile, the water temperature is increasing due to climate change, which is disturbing marine ecosystems, in particular the physiology of filter-feeding benthic organisms (such as mussels) or fish found in coastal waters (e.g. mullet). Through a multidisciplinary approach (biology, physiology, chemistry), the CUTE project, jointly funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), aims to tackle this issue, by describing, for the first time, the impact of the combined action of temperature rise and sunscreen usage on the physiological capacities of mullet, the biological performance of mussels and, more generally, on their state of health.

During the first year, Cedre will focus mainly on developing analytical protocols. Initially, the aim will be to identify the representative molecules of sunscreen, i.e. the molecules which can then be considered a marker of their use. Thereafter, the analytical protocol will be implemented in the laboratory to detect and quantify these molecules in seawater as well as in the tissues of marine organisms.

More information

Link: ANR project page