"The central objective of this project is to provide a scientific basis for the prediction of the ecotoxicity of toxic metals to local biodiversity in sediments of European estuaries subject to anthropogenic contamination. Measurements of accumulated metal concentrations in sediment-ingesting infaunal invertebrates can provide evidence on local sediment bioavailabilities of toxic metals, but such total body concentrations are not directly related to the predictive onset of ecotoxicological effects (Luoma and Rainbow, 2008) and cannot be used as such in risk assessments. Ecotoxicity, however, is related to the increased rate of accumulation of metal in a form that is entering the body faster than it can be detoxified or excreted (Rainbow 2002, 2007; Luoma and Rainbow, 2008). My aim is to extend the capabilities and the use of biodynamic modelling of metal bioaccumulation to make it possible: [1] to model the build up of such non-detoxified metal accumulated in a keystone European estuarine deposit feeder as a biomarker for ecotoxicity, [2] to enable the prediction of threshold bioavailabilities of trace metals in contaminated estuarine sediments that are of ecotoxicological significance, [3] to achieve a better scientific understanding of the mechanisms involved in sediment ecotoxicology . Achieving these three outcomes will put environmental risk assessments of sediment metal contamination of estuaries and other coastal areas onto a more scientific basis and thereby improve the monitoring capabilities of both the research community and environmental agencies. The extension of this technique and the insights that can be gained both in this project and through its wider use should contribute to the more effective implementation of environmental quality standards for different purposes – for example, those for sediments in the Water Framework Directive or those being developed by national agencies for dredged material management following the OSPAR recommendations."