There is an increasing need for effective methods of estimating the risks caused by the large number of pollutants released into the environment by human activities. This volume provides an overview of biosensors as a key tool for the environmental monitoring of aquatic systems. Biosensor technology is based on a specific biological recognition element in combination with a transducer for signal processing. In particular, the detection and identification of endocrine-disrupting compounds and other toxins in wastewater are treated in detail. Biosensors are presented as a practical alternative or supplement to traditional chromatographic techniques. Emphasis is also placed on the validation of the applied technology and its application to real-world environmental samples.

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sector. This ensured eventual transfer of the technology demonstrated at the wo- shops and Technical Meetings to marketable devices. BIOSET provided assistance for researchers from European laboratories to meet to exchange ideas, use equ- ment, and establish a basis for new joint projects. The secretariat of the Concerted Action BIOSET supported the Technical Meetings. There were three Technical Meetings held, two in Berlin in 1997 and 1998, and the third in Barcelona, in April 2000. The goal of these technical meetings was to join different research and industrial teams to evaluate the performance of their biosensor technology in field conditions with common and standardized surface and waste waters. As a result of these field experiments, the additional information that biosensors can offer to environmental monitoring was also evaluated. Thus, these three Technical Meetings were useful accompanying measures and practical additions to the currently organized yearly workshops. The concerted action BIOSET was f- lowed by the SENSPOL network. The 1st SENSPOL Workshop was held on the 9-11 May 2001 on Sensing Technologies for Contaminated Sites and Groundwater at the University of Alcala. There was one special Workshop on "Genotoxicity Biosensing (TECHNOTOX)" supported by the European Commission DG XII D-1 and BIOSET in the year 2000. The TECHNOTOX meeting at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) in Mol was organized by Phillippe Corbisier (VITO), Peter-D. Hansen (TU Berlin) and Damia Barcelo (CSIC Barcelona).

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Biosensors for Environmental Monitoring at Global Scale and the EU Level Marinella Farré , Sara Rodriguez-Mozaz , Miren López de Alda , Damià Barceló , and Peter-D. Hansen Achievements of the RIANA and AWACSS EU Projects: Immunosensors for the Determination of Pesticides, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Sara Rodriguez-Mozaz, Maria J. López de Alda , and Damià Barceló Biosensors for Pharmaceuticals and Emerging Contaminants Based on Novel Micro and Nanotechnology Approaches Javier Adrián , Fátima Fernández , Alejandro Muriano , Raquel Obregon ,Javier Ramón-Azcon , Nuria Tort, and M.-Pilar Marco Recombinant Yeast Assays and Gene Expression Assays for the Analysis of Endocrine Disruption Benjamin Piña , Susanna Boronat , Marta Casado, and Alba Olivares Biosensors for Aquatic Toxicology Evaluation Marinella Farré and Damià Barceló Genetically Engineered Bacteria for Genotoxicity Assessment Alva Biran , Rami Pedahzur , Sebastian Buchinger , Georg Reifferscheid , and Shimshon Belkin Adverse Effects in Aquatic Ecosystems - Genotoxicity as a Priotriy Measurement Tamara Grummt, Peter-Diedrich Hansen, Petra Rettberg, Petra Waldmann, Jürgen Zipperle Genotoxicity in the Environment (Ecogenotoxicity) P. D. Hansen, E. Wittekindt, J. Sherry, E. Unruh , H. Dizer, H. Tüg, H. Rosenthal, V. Dethlefsen , H. von Westernhagen Liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry methods for analysis of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wastewaters Cristina Postigo, Marina Kuster, Marta Villagrasa, Sara Rodríguez-Mozaz, Rikke Brix, Marinel.la Farré, Miren López de Alda, Damià Barceló