The Swiss Ecotox Centre: bridging the gap between research and application

The Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology (Ecotox Centre) was created in recognition of the urgent societal need to provide expertise, education and tools for assessing the risks and effects of anthropogenic chemicals in the environment. Founded in 2008, the Ecotox Centre conducts applied, practice-oriented research in the areas of aquatic (water and sediment) and terrestrial (with focus on soil) ecotoxicology, and provides further education and consulting services to its stakeholders. To date, its most important activities focus on (1) the validation and standardization of bioassays for use in monitoring of water, sediment or soil quality and (2) the development of tools for retrospective risk assessment, including approaches to assess mixture risk.