Complementary chemical and effect-based risk assessments reveal ecotoxicological risks in Caribbean coastal bays and coral reefs

In three inland bays of Curacao and adjacent coral reefs, wet-season rainfall mobilizes terrestrial contaminants, and mixture bioassays show Nrf2 oxidative stress pathway activation across reef sites.

• Why it matters: Chemical pollution threatens coral reefs, but risks from mixtures are often unquantified, leaving monitoring reliant on targeted chemistry that may miss real biological effects.
• What they did: Passive samplers were deployed in three inland bays and adjacent coral reefs during wet and dry seasons, then extracts were assessed with targeted chemical analysis and effect-based bioassays.
• The result: Targeted concentrations exceeded predicted no-effect concentrations and were highest inside bays during the wet season, while mixture toxic pressure was low to moderate; bioassays indicated potential ecotoxicological risk with Nrf2 pathway activation, showing targeted analysis alone is insufficient.

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