Andy Smith

Marine Litter Team Leader and Senior Environmental Scientist

Andy is an ecotoxicologist and water quality scientist, working with multidisciplinary teams to deliver complex assessments of the state of the marine environment. He is currently working on the science around marine litter, with a particular focus on impacts and interactions with other contaminants.

Andy worked in conservation, and the water industry before joining Cefas over 20 years ago. From 2008-2018 he managed the suite of ecotoxicology facilities to Good Laboratory Practice standards at Cefas’ Lowestoft laboratories and oversaw the delivery of quality assured testing for both regulatory and research purposes. He is currently an expert advisor to British and International Standards organisations on Aquatic Testing and was a previous member of the Environment Agency’s Standing Committee of Analysts.

Andy has worked on endocrine disruptors, nanoparticles, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals associated with the oil and gas industry. He was a part of a wide range of commercial and government projects, including the UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) Endocrine Disruptors Demonstration Programme (EDDP) (2006-2010) which investigated the efficiency of existing and new wastewater treatment technologies at removing steroid oestrogens.

He has a published research profile of over 20 peer reviewed papers. In recent years most of his project work has involved working overseas with the national governments of countries in the Middle East, Asia, and the South Pacific on water quality issues including litter, sewage and anthropogenic chemical contaminants.

Research publications: Google scholar and Research Gate

Selected Publications

P.Bersuder et al. 2020. “Baseline survey of marine sediments collected from the Kingdom of Bahrain: PAHs, PCBs, organochlorine pesticides, perfluoroalkyl substances, dioxins, brominated flame retardants and metal contamination” Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 161, Part A,111734, doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111734

M Devlin et al. 2020. “Baseline assessment of coastal water quality, in Vanuatu, South Pacific: Insights gained from in-situ sampling”. Marine Pollution Bulletin 160, 111651, doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111651

AJ Smith et al. 2015. “Screening for contaminant hotspots in the marine environment of Kuwait using ecotoxicological and chemical screening techniques”. Marine pollution bulletin 100 (2), 681-688, doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.08.043