Chapter 10: Marsupial and Placental Mammal Species as Experimental Models in Environmental Risk Assessment Studies – Epilogue and Final Remarks

The growing impact of anthropogenic activities generates huge quantities of toxic residues that can have direct or indirect detrimental effects upon the quality of our environment. The increase in their jeopardizing effects can exert short-, medium- and long-term consequences, affecting not only human health but also environmental health in general. Furthermore, these disturbances are usually capable, in most cases, of reducing the biodiversity of native flora and fauna, which will, in turn, encourage the resistance and emergence of new pests and diseases. This book intends to provide an outline, relevant examples and stimulate practical discussions on the use of this non-conventional group of vertebrates. The book includes relevant tools which may be of use in the analysis prior to the implementation of decisions leading to actions which will hopefully reduce environmental health risks against environmental factors. Our aim was to compile information from a diversity of sources into a single volume. The rationale is to give some real-life examples in order to widen the concept that the use of non-conventional animal models, far from being a scientific conundrum, may instead provide useful avenues to be explored and further developed as a way to provide help and real answers to some of the actual problems the whole planet is dealing with currently. Concomitantly, these concrete examples extend concepts of hazardous factors to living species worldwide that may stimulate new research ideas and trends in their respective important fields.