News & Publications

The biological quality of two Swiss river sediments downstream of wastewater treatment plants is significantly worse than upstream. The Ecotox Centre scientists have been able to show this using oligochaetes .

A rough evaluation concept is available for the assessment of wastewater-polluted surface waters in Switzerland with the help of bioassays. Progress has also been made in standardising the individual work steps.

The environmental pollution with antibiotics can lead to more resistance against these substances. However, the generation of antibiotic resistance is not taken into account when deriving environmental quality criteria (EQS). For eight substances, the Ecotox Centre has investigated whether the available EQS also protect against the development of antibiotic resistance in surface waters.