Prof. Dr. A.D. Vethaak

Summary

Dick Vethaak is employed at the scientific Institute Deltares (www.deltares.nl) and holds a part-time  professor in Ecotoxicology of Delta and Coastal Waters at VU University.  He is working at the VU within the department Chemistry and Biology of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), where his research focuses on ecotoxicological  assessment of water quality and ecosystem health  including interactions with environmental factors, and biological effects tools for use in monitoring and risk assessment.  Vethaak is a registered toxicologist with the Dutch Society of Toxicology and EUROTOX. He has published over 85 peer-reviewed articles and book contributions and more than 200 reports, conference contributions and other articles on subjects related to fish pathology, environmental quality, monitoring and effect assessment of environmental contaminants.

Vethaak initiated and coordinated several long-term research projects, (inter)national (sea-going) workshops and participated in various EU-funded projects (a.o. FIRE). He has been project leader of the nationwide survey on xeno-estrogens in the aquatic environment of  the Netherlands (LOES), and an adviser of  the Health Council of  the Netherlands and the Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment (CSTEE) of  the European Commission. Vethaak has long been involved in various expert groups and committees of the International Council for Exploration of  the Sea (ICES), including a member of  the Science Committee (SCICOM). He is also a member of  the Advisory Committee for the Postgraduate Education in Toxicology (PET).

Expertise

Estuarine and coastal pollution, emerging contaminants, wildlife toxicology, epizootiology, fish pathology, endocrine disruption, biomarker and bioassay development and validation, food chain transfer and effects, stress ecology, ecosystem health, design of semi-field studies and bio-monitoring programmes, cumulative effects assessment, integrated monitoring and assessment approaches, studies to resolve cause-and-effect problems in estuarine/coastal organisms.

Academic training

Professional employment history

Selected publications

Papers in Peer-reviewed Journals

Vethaak, A.D., Pieters, J., Jol, J.G. (2009). Long-term trends in the prevalence of cancer and major diseases among flatfish in the S.E. North Sea as indicators of changing ecosystem health. Env. Sci.Techn. 43: 2151–2158.
Grinwis, G.C.M., Wester, P.W., Vethaak, A.D. (2009).Chronic aqueous exposure to bis(tri-n-butyltin)oxide (TBTO) causes thymotoxicity in European flounder (Platichthys flesus). Environ.Pollut., 10:2587-2593.
Schipper, C.A., Lahr, J., van den Brink, P.J., George, S.G., Hansen, P-D., da Silva de Assis, H.C., van Murk, A.J., Grinwis, G.C.M., Klamer, H., Kater, B.J., Postma, J.F., van der Werf, B., and Vethaak, A.D. (2009). A retrospective analysis to explore the applicability of fish biomarkers and sediment bioassays along contaminated salinity transects . ICES J. Mar. Sci., Advance Access published on August 14, 2009
Martinez-Gomez, C., Campillo, J.A., Fernández, B., Valdés, J., Benedicto, J.M., Sánchez, F., Vethaak, A.D. (2009). Evaluation of three-year monitoring with biomarkers in fish following the Prestige oil spill ( N Spain). Chemosphere74: 613-20.
Kuiper, R.V., Vethaak, A.D. Cantón, R.F., Dubbeldam, M., van den Brandhof, E.J., Leonards P.E.G., Wester P.W., van den Berg M., Vos J.G. (2008). Toxicity of analytically cleaned pentabromodiphenylether after prolonged exposure in estuarine European flounder (Platichthys flesus), and partial life-cycle exposure in fresh water zebrafish (Danio rerio). Chemosphere73: 195-202.
Thain, John E., A.Dick Vethaak and Ketil Hylland (2008). Contaminants in marine ecosystems: developing an integrated indicator framework using biological effects techniques.Journal Mar. Sci.65: 1508-1514.
Hauck, M., Huijbregts, M.A. J, Koelmans, A.A., Moermond, C.T.A., van den Heuvel-Greve, M.J., Veltman, K., Hendriks, A.J., Vethaak, A.D. (2007).Including sorption to black carbon in modeling bio-accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Uncertainty analysis and comparison with field data. Environ. Sci. Technol.41: 2738 -2744.
Vethaak, A.D., Schrap, S.M., de Voogt, P. (eds) (2006).Estrogens and Xeno-estrogens in the Aquatic Environment: An Integrated Approach for Field Monitoring and Effect Assessment. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL, USA.ISBN 1-880611-85-6. 481 pp.
Hylland, K., Lang, T., Vethaak, A.D. (eds) (2006).Biological Effects of Contaminants in Marine Pelagic Ecosystems. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Brussels, Belgium. ISBN 1-880611-84-8.475 pp.
Veltman, K., Huijbregts, M.A.J., van den Heuvel-Greve, M.J., Vethaak, A.D., Hendriks, A.J. (2006). Organotin accumulation in estuarine and marine food chains: field measurements and model calculations.Mar. Environ. Res. 61: 511-530.
Vethaak, AD., Lahr, J., Schrap, SM., Belfroid, A.C.,. Rijs, G.B.J, Gerritsen, A., Boer J. de, Bulder, A.S., Grinwis, G.C.M., Kuiper, R.V., Legler, J., Murk, T.A.J., Peijnenburg, W., Verhaar, H. J.M., de Voogt, P. (2005). An integrated assessment of estrogenic contamination and biological effects in the aquatic environment of The Netherlands. Chemosphere 59:511-524.
Vethaak, A.D., Lahr, J., Kuiper, R.V., Grinwis, G.C.M., Rouhani Rankouhi, T., Giesy, J.P., Gerritsen, A. (2003). Estrogenic effects in fish in the Netherlands: some preliminary results. Toxicology: 181-182: 147-150.
Vos, J.G., Dybing, E., Greim, H.A., Ladefoged, O., Lambré, C., Tarazona, J.V., Brandt, I., Vethaak, A.D. (2000). Health effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on wildlife, with special reference to the European situation. Crit. Rev. Toxicol. 30: 71-133.
Belfroid, A.C., van der Horst, A., Vethaak, A.D., Schafer, A., Rijs, G.B.J., Wegener, J., Cofino, W.P. (1999).Analysis and occurrence of estrogenic hormones and their glucuronides in surface water and waste water in the Netherlands. Sci. Total Environ. 225: 101-108.
Vethaak, A.D, Jol, J.G., Eggens, M.L., Meijboom, A., ap Rheinallt, T., Wester, P.W., van der Zande, T., Bergman, A., Dankers, N., Ariese, F., Baan, R.A., Everts, J.M., Opperhuizen, A., Marquenie, J.M. (1996). Skin and liver diseases induced in flounder (Platichthys flesus) after long-term exposure to contaminated sediments in large-scale mesocosms. Environ. Health Perspect. 104 (11):1218-1229.

Extraordinary chair

Ecotoxologie van delta- en kunstwateren