Media

HKU to hold the 7th International Conference on Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology
An advanced understanding of marine pollution and changes of marine ecosystems
(date changed)

17 Jun 2013

The "International Conferences on Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology" have been signature events in the international arena of marine environmental research since 1995. The University of Hong Kong is holding the 7th International Conference on Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology from June 17 to 21, 2013. An opening ceremony will be held on June 18, 2013 (tomorrow).

The Conference, supported and sponsored by the United Nations, will be attended by some 250 scientists and environmental managers from 24 countries. It aims to discuss and advance the understanding of local, regional and global marine pollution problems, in the hope that such problems may be more easily solved in the future. Several world renowned experts will be invited to share their experience and views with local scientists from Hong Kong and China.

Under Secretary for the Environment Ms Christine Loh Kung-wai, JP; Dr Gil Jacinto, Representative of PEMSEA, United Nations; HKU Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Lap Chee Tsui and Director of HKU School of Biological Sciences Professor Rudolf Wu will be the officiating guests at the ceremony.

Details of the Opening Ceremony :

Date：June 18, 2013 (tomorrow)
Time：9:00am - 10:00am
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, HKU (Map http://www.maps.hku.hk/index.php?lang=en)

The Conference
The 7th International Conference on Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology will focus on the following five key areas, which are likely to be important in the coming years, both in Hong Kong and worldwide:

1. Climate change and marine ecosystems;
2. Endocrine disrupting chemicals and issues of emerging concern;
3. Hypoxia and eutrophication;
4. Innovative technologies for pollution monitoring and control;
5. Risk assessment and management.

The first of these involves a topic on everyone's lips: climate change and marine ecosystems. This subject area, in many parts of the world, has invoked controversial opinions. It is, however, beyond doubt that major changes are occurring in our global environments, which are strongly correlated with temperature changes and ocean acidification. Some of the keynote speakers, who are globally-recognized experts in the area, will address the related issues in their speeches.

The ubiquitous worldwide occurrence of endocrine disrupting chemicals and chemicals of emerging concern and their effects on marine biota and public health, albeit at very low concentrations, have become a major concern, especially in the Pearl River Delta, now known as "the world's factory' as well as one of the world's largest dumping site of electronic waste. Understanding the long-term effects of these chemicals, their environmental fates as well as controlling their disposal is of vast importance. A thorough scientific evaluation of their toxicity and ecological risks in marine environments is urgently needed, and this important research area will be addressed by a number of papers in this conference.

Hypoxia and eutrophication continue to cause major changes in marine ecosystems around the world, as well as considerable economic losses to fisheries. These long standing problems will be exacerbated in the coming years due to global warming, especially in developing countries where construction of waste treatment facilities lags well behind ever-increasing population demands. Alarmingly, the number of hypoxic "dead zones" has doubled every decade, and some 400 dead zones have been found all over the world by the United Nations, including the deltas of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers, two of the three largest estuaries in China.

For programme details, please visit http://www.biosch.hku.hk/icmpe7/htm/03_programme.htm

For press enquiry and interview arrangement, please contact:
Rhea Leung, Manager (Media) of Communications and Public Affairs Office,
at 2857 8555 / 9022 7446 or rhea.leung@hku.hk; or
Esther Liu, Executive Officer, School of Biological Sciences
at 2299 0803 or epyliu@hku.hk .