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Argolo ADS, Gomes G, Bila DM. (Anti)estrogenic activity impacted by complex environmental matrices: A DOM and multiphase distribution approach. CHEMOSPHERE 2023; 310:136917. [PMID: 36272630 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The presence of estrogenic endocrine disruptors in aquatic environments has been a concern and bioassays are recommended tools for their monitoring. However, the physicochemical properties of contaminants and the environmental matrix features may influence the resultant response. This study aimed to assess this influence on the Yeast Estrogen Screen (YES) assay. Mixtures of 17β-estradiol (E2) and humic acid (HA) were evaluated through the Schild approach aiming to investigate the interactions between estrogens and dissolved organic matter (DOM). Moreover, environmental samples from municipal landfill leachate and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influents and effluents were screened for (anti)estrogenic activity at both dissolved and particulate phases. Finally, results were statistically confronted with physicochemical parameters through principal component analysis (PCA). The HA test concentrations strongly reduced the E2 response, even at low levels. Humic substances may not only reduce estrogen bioavailability, but also interfere with the assay mechanism through enzymatic inhibition thus masking the sample estrogenic potential. Landfill leachate had total E2-Eq in the range 1282-2591 ng L-1, while WWTP influent and effluent were in the range 12.1-41.4 and <DL-2.3 ng L-1, so estrogenicity was reduced 92% in average. Particulate phase was responsible for 33-100% of measured E2-Eq between matrices, though cytotoxicity occurred in some extracts. Antiestrogenic activity was observed in both phases and might also have masked the estrogenicity of samples. PCA did not resulted in positive correlations supporting a multiphase distribution pattern of estrogenic compounds. Nevertheless, the solids and organic matter characteristics supported the data interpretation. In conclusion, the in vitro YES assay is subjected to factors intrinsic to the environmental sample that can influence on the measured estrogenic response. Therefore, results interpretation should be performed together with organic matter characterization parameters, cytotoxicity and antiestrogenic activity evaluation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allan Dos Santos Argolo
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Giselle Gomes
- Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Daniele Maia Bila
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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2
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Lee J, Huchthausen J, Schlichting R, Scholz S, Henneberger L, Escher BI. Validation of an SH-SY5Y Cell-Based Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition Assay for Water Quality Assessment. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2022; 41:3046-3057. [PMID: 36165561 DOI: 10.1002/etc.5490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition assay has been frequently applied for environmental monitoring to capture insecticides such as organothiophosphates (OTPs) and carbamates. However, natural organic matter such as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) co-extracted with solid-phase extraction from environmental samples can produce false-negative AChE inhibition in free enzyme-based AChE assays. We evaluated whether disturbance by DOC can be alleviated in a cell-based AChE assay using differentiated human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. The exposure duration was set at an optimum of 3 h considering the effects of OTPs and carbamates. Because loss to the airspace was expected for the more volatile OTPs (chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and parathion), the chemical loss in this bioassay setup was investigated using solid-phase microextraction followed by chemical analysis. The three OTPs were relatively well retained (loss <34%) during 3 h of exposure in the 384-well plate, but higher losses occurred on prolonged exposure, accompanied by slight cross-contamination of adjacent wells. Inhibition of AChE by paraoxon-ethyl was not altered in the presence of up to 68 mgc /L Aldrich humic acid used as surrogate for DOC. Binary mixtures of paraoxon-ethyl and water extracts showed concentration-additive effects. These experiments confirmed that the matrix in water extracts does not disturb the assay, unlike purified enzyme-based AChE assays. The cell-based AChE assay proved to be suitable for testing water samples with effect concentrations causing 50% inhibition of AChE at relative enrichments of 0.5-10 in river water samples, which were distinctly lower than corresponding cytotoxicity, confirming the high sensitivity of the cell-based AChE inhibition assay and its relevance for water quality monitoring. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:3046-3057. © 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jungeun Lee
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Julia Huchthausen
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rita Schlichting
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Stefan Scholz
- Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Luise Henneberger
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Environmental Toxicology and Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Kienle C, Vermeirssen ELM, Schifferli A, Singer H, Stamm C, Werner I. Effects of treated wastewater on the ecotoxicity of small streams - Unravelling the contribution of chemicals causing effects. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0226278. [PMID: 31881027 PMCID: PMC6934383 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plant effluents are important point sources of micropollutants. To assess how the discharge of treated wastewater affects the ecotoxicity of small to medium-sized streams we collected water samples up- and downstream of 24 wastewater treatment plants across the Swiss Plateau and the Jura regions of Switzerland. We investigated estrogenicity, inhibition of algal photosynthetic activity (photosystem II, PSII) and growth, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition. At four sites, we measured feeding activity of amphipods (Gammarus fossarum) in situ as well as water flea (Ceriodaphnia dubia) reproduction in water samples. Ecotoxicological endpoints were compared with results from analyses of general water quality parameters as well as a target screening of a wide range of organic micropollutants with a focus on pesticides and pharmaceuticals using liquid chromatography high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. Measured ecotoxicological effects in stream water varied substantially among sites: 17β-estradiol equivalent concentrations (EEQbio, indicating the degree of estrogenicity) were relatively low and ranged from 0.04 to 0.85 ng/L, never exceeding a proposed effect-based trigger (EBT) value of 0.88 ng/L. Diuron equivalent (DEQbio) concentrations (indicating the degree of photosystem II inhibition in algae) ranged from 2.4 to 1576 ng/L and exceeded the EBT value (70 ng/L) in one third of the rivers studied, sometimes even upstream of the WWTP. Parathion equivalent (PtEQbio) concentrations (indicating the degree of AChE inhibition) reached relatively high values (37 to 1278 ng/L) mostly exceeding the corresponding EBT (196 ng/L PtEQbio). Decreased feeding activity by amphipods or decreased water flea reproduction downstream compared to the upstream site was observed at one of four investigated sites only. Results of the combined algae assay (PSII inhibition) correlated best with results of chemical analysis for PSII inhibiting herbicides. Estrogenicity was partly and AChE inhibition strongly underestimated based on measured steroidal estrogens respectively organophosphate and carbamate insecticides. An impact of dissolved organic carbon on results of the AChE inhibition assay was obvious. For this assay more work is required to further explore the missing correlation of bioassay data with chemical analytical data. Overall, the discharge of WWTP effluent led to increased estrogenicity, PSII and AChE inhibition downstream, irrespective of upstream land use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cornelia Kienle
- Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology, Dübendorf, Zürich, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Andrea Schifferli
- Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology, Dübendorf, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Heinz Singer
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Dübendorf, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Christian Stamm
- Department of Environmental Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Dübendorf, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Inge Werner
- Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology, Dübendorf, Zürich, Switzerland
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Völker J, Stapf M, Miehe U, Wagner M. Systematic Review of Toxicity Removal by Advanced Wastewater Treatment Technologies via Ozonation and Activated Carbon. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2019; 53:7215-7233. [PMID: 31120742 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b00570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Upgrading wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with advanced technologies is one key strategy to reduce micropollutant emissions. Given the complex chemical composition of wastewater, toxicity removal is an integral parameter to assess the performance of WWTPs. Thus, the goal of this systematic review is to evaluate how effectively ozonation and activated carbon remove in vitro and in vivo toxicity. Out of 2464 publications, we extracted 46 relevant studies conducted at 22 pilot or full-scale WWTPs. We performed a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of in vitro (100 assays) and in vivo data (20 species), respectively. Data is more abundant on ozonation (573 data points) than on an activated carbon treatment (162 data points), and certain in vitro end points (especially estrogenicity) and in vivo models (e.g., daphnids) dominate. The literature shows that while a conventional treatment effectively reduces toxicity, residual effects in the effluents may represent a risk to the receiving ecosystem on the basis of effect-based trigger values. In general, an upgrade to ozonation or activated carbon treatment will significantly increase toxicity removal with similar performance. Nevertheless, ozonation generates toxic transformation products that can be removed by a post-treatment. By assessing the growing body of effect-based studies, we identify sensitive and underrepresented end points and species and provide guidance for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Völker
- Department of Biology , Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , Trondheim 7491 , Norway
| | - Michael Stapf
- Berlin Centre of Competence for Water (KWB) , Berlin 10709 , Germany
| | - Ulf Miehe
- Berlin Centre of Competence for Water (KWB) , Berlin 10709 , Germany
| | - Martin Wagner
- Department of Biology , Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , Trondheim 7491 , Norway
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Abbas A, Schneider I, Bollmann A, Funke J, Oehlmann J, Prasse C, Schulte-Oehlmann U, Seitz W, Ternes T, Weber M, Wesely H, Wagner M. What you extract is what you see: Optimising the preparation of water and wastewater samples for in vitro bioassays. WATER RESEARCH 2019; 152:47-60. [PMID: 30660097 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.12.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2018] [Revised: 12/19/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
The assessment of water quality is crucial for safeguarding drinking water resources and ecosystem integrity. To this end, sample preparation and extraction is critically important, especially when investigating emerging contaminants and the toxicity of water samples. As extraction methods are rarely optimised for bioassays but rather adopted from chemical analysis, this may result in a misrepresentation of the actual toxicity. In this study, surface water, groundwater, hospital and municipal wastewater were used to characterise the impacts of common sample preparation techniques (acidification, filtration and solid phase extraction (SPE)) on the outcomes of eleven in vitro bioassays. The latter covered endocrine activity (reporter gene assays for estrogen, androgen, aryl-hydrocarbon, retinoic acid, retinoid X, vitamin D, thyroid receptor), mutagenicity (Ames fluctuation test), genotoxicity (umu test) and cytotoxicity. Water samples extracted using different SPE sorbents (Oasis HLB, Supelco ENVI-Carb+, Telos C18/ENV) at acidic and neutral pH were compared for their performance in recovering biological effects. Acidification, commonly used for stabilisation, significantly altered the endocrine activity and toxicity of most (waste)water samples. Sample filtration did not affect the majority of endpoints but in certain cases affected the (anti-)estrogenic and dioxin-like activities. SPE extracts (10.4 × final concentration), including WWTP effluents, induced significant endocrine effects that were not detected in aqueous samples (0.63 × final concentration), such as estrogenic, (anti-)androgenic and dioxin-like activities. When ranking the SPE methods using multivariate Pareto optimisation an extraction with Telos C18/ENV at pH 7 was most effective in recovering toxicity. At the same time, these extracts were highly cytotoxic masking the endpoint under investigation. Compared to that, extraction at pH 2.5 enriched less cytotoxicity. In summary, our study demonstrates that sample preparation and extraction critically affect the outcome of bioassays when assessing the toxicity of water samples. Depending on the water matrix and the bioassay, these methods need to be optimised to accurately assess water quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aennes Abbas
- Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Ilona Schneider
- Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Anna Bollmann
- Zweckverband Landeswasserversorgung, Am Spitzigen Berg 1, D-89129, Langenau, Germany
| | - Jan Funke
- IWW Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wasser Beratungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, Moritzstraße 26, D-45476, Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Jörg Oehlmann
- Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Carsten Prasse
- Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Ulrike Schulte-Oehlmann
- Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Wolfram Seitz
- Zweckverband Landeswasserversorgung, Am Spitzigen Berg 1, D-89129, Langenau, Germany
| | - Thomas Ternes
- Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Am Mainzer Tor 1, D-56068, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Marcus Weber
- Department of Numerical Analysis and Modelling, Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik Berlin (ZIB), Takustraße 7, D-14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Henning Wesely
- Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Am Mainzer Tor 1, D-56068, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Martin Wagner
- Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt, Germany; Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway
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6
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Neale PA, Leusch FDL, Escher BI. What is driving the NF-κB response in environmental water extracts? CHEMOSPHERE 2018; 210:645-652. [PMID: 30031348 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.07.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Revised: 07/09/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
In vitro bioassays are increasingly applied for water quality monitoring, with assays indicative of adaptive stress responses commonly included in test batteries. The NF-κB assay is responsive to surface water and wastewater extracts, but the causative compounds are unknown and micropollutants typically found in water do not activate the NF-κB assay. The current study aimed to investigate if co-extracted organic matter and/or endotoxins could cause the NF-κB response in surface water extracts. The effect of model bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was evaluated in the NF-κB assay both before and after solid-phase extraction (SPE), with 7% effect recovery for LPS and between 7 and 52% effect recovery for DOC observed. The NF-κB response, endotoxin activity, micropollutant concentration and total organic carbon concentration was measured in four surface water extracts. All water extracts showed a response in the NF-κB assay, but the detected micropollutants could not explain the effect. Comparison of predicted bioanalytical equivalent concentrations based on micropollutant, DOC and endotoxin concentrations in surface water with experimental bioanalytical equivalent concentrations suggest that co-extracted endotoxins are the most important drivers of the observed effect, with DOC only having a minor contribution. While in vitro bioassays typically detect mixtures of organic micropollutants, the current study shows that the NF-κB assay can integrate the effects of co-extracted endotoxins. Given that endotoxins can pose a risk for human health, the NF-κB assay is a valuable inclusion in bioanalytical test batteries used for water quality monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport QLD 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), Woolloongabba QLD 4102, Australia.
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport QLD 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), Woolloongabba QLD 4102, Australia; UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geoscience, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
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7
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Escher BI, Aїt-Aїssa S, Behnisch PA, Brack W, Brion F, Brouwer A, Buchinger S, Crawford SE, Du Pasquier D, Hamers T, Hettwer K, Hilscherová K, Hollert H, Kase R, Kienle C, Tindall AJ, Tuerk J, van der Oost R, Vermeirssen E, Neale PA. Effect-based trigger values for in vitro and in vivo bioassays performed on surface water extracts supporting the environmental quality standards (EQS) of the European Water Framework Directive. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 628-629:748-765. [PMID: 29454215 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 01/31/2018] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Effect-based methods including cell-based bioassays, reporter gene assays and whole-organism assays have been applied for decades in water quality monitoring and testing of enriched solid-phase extracts. There is no common EU-wide agreement on what level of bioassay response in water extracts is acceptable. At present, bioassay results are only benchmarked against each other but not against a consented measure of chemical water quality. The EU environmental quality standards (EQS) differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable surface water concentrations for individual chemicals but cannot capture the thousands of chemicals in water and their biological action as mixtures. We developed a method that reads across from existing EQS and includes additional mixture considerations with the goal that the derived effect-based trigger values (EBT) indicate acceptable risk for complex mixtures as they occur in surface water. Advantages and limitations of various approaches to read across from EQS are discussed and distilled to an algorithm that translates EQS into their corresponding bioanalytical equivalent concentrations (BEQ). The proposed EBT derivation method was applied to 48 in vitro bioassays with 32 of them having sufficient information to yield preliminary EBTs. To assess the practicability and robustness of the proposed approach, we compared the tentative EBTs with observed environmental effects. The proposed method only gives guidance on how to derive EBTs but does not propose final EBTs for implementation. The EBTs for some bioassays such as those for estrogenicity are already mature and could be implemented into regulation in the near future, while for others it will still take a few iterations until we can be confident of the power of the proposed EBTs to differentiate good from poor water quality with respect to chemical contamination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate I Escher
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Centre for Applied Geosciences, 72074 Tübingen, Germany; Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia.
| | - Selim Aїt-Aїssa
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | | | - Werner Brack
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - François Brion
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | | | | | - Sarah E Crawford
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | | | - Timo Hamers
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Dept. Environment & Health, De Boelelaan 1108, 1081 HZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Klára Hilscherová
- Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Henner Hollert
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Robert Kase
- Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology Eawag-EPFL, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Cornelia Kienle
- Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology Eawag-EPFL, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Andrew J Tindall
- Laboratoire Watchfrog, 1 Rue Pierre Fontaine, 91 000 Evry, France
| | - Jochen Tuerk
- Institut für Energie- und Umwelttechnik e.V. (IUTA, Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology), Bliersheimer Str. 58-60, D-47229 Duisburg, Germany
| | - Ron van der Oost
- Waternet Institute for the Urban Water Cycle, Department of Technology, Research and Engineering, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Etienne Vermeirssen
- Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology Eawag-EPFL, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
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Rosenmai AK, Niss F, Mandava G, Lundqvist J, Oskarsson A. Impact of natural organic matter in water on in vitro bioactivity assays. CHEMOSPHERE 2018; 200:209-216. [PMID: 29486360 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.02.081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2017] [Revised: 02/12/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Surface water can be contaminated with pollutants from multiple sources and contain a vast number of various chemicals. In vitro bioassays are valuable tools to assess the total bioactivity of micropollutants in water samples. Besides anthropogenic chemicals, natural organic matter (NOM) is ubiquitous in water, which also may have an impact on the bioactivity in water samples. In the present study we investigated concentration-dependent effects of Nordic Aquatic fulvic acid (NA-FA) and Nordic reservoir NOM (NR-NOM) on bioactivity measured by a panel of luciferase reporter gene assays. The assays included measurements of both induction of activities and inhibition of induced activation on aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor (ER), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, and on the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) activity as a marker of oxidative stress. At non-cytotoxic concentrations both NA-FA and NR-NOM induced AhR activity, inhibited AR activity with and without the known inducer dihydrotestosterone, inhibited Nrf2 activity, and NR-NOM induced ER activity. The results indicate that the presence of NOM in water samples may lead to false positive results for AhR activity and false positive results for AR and Nrf2 activity, when assessing inhibition of induced bioactivities from anthropogenic substances. We have demonstrated that NA-FA and NR-NOM have an impact on in vitro bioactivities and conclude that the impact of NOM in water should be considered in the evaluation of results from bioactivity assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Kjerstine Rosenmai
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7028, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Frida Niss
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7028, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Geeta Mandava
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7028, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Johan Lundqvist
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7028, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Agneta Oskarsson
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7028, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
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9
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Neale PA, Brack W, Aït-Aïssa S, Busch W, Hollender J, Krauss M, Maillot-Maréchal E, Munz NA, Schlichting R, Schulze T, Vogler B, Escher BI. Solid-phase extraction as sample preparation of water samples for cell-based and other in vitro bioassays. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. PROCESSES & IMPACTS 2018; 20:493-504. [PMID: 29493668 DOI: 10.1039/c7em00555e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
In vitro bioassays are increasingly used for water quality monitoring. Surface water samples often need to be enriched to observe an effect and solid-phase extraction (SPE) is commonly applied for this purpose. The applied methods are typically optimised for the recovery of target chemicals and not for effect recovery for bioassays. A review of the few studies that have evaluated SPE recovery for bioassays showed a lack of experimentally determined recoveries. Therefore, we systematically measured effect recovery of a mixture of 579 organic chemicals covering a wide range of physicochemical properties that were spiked into a pristine water sample and extracted using large volume solid-phase extraction (LVSPE). Assays indicative of activation of xenobiotic metabolism, hormone receptor-mediated effects and adaptive stress responses were applied, with non-specific effects determined through cytotoxicity measurements. Overall, effect recovery was found to be similar to chemical recovery for the majority of bioassays and LVSPE blanks had no effect. Multi-layer SPE exhibited greater recovery of spiked chemicals compared to LVSPE, but the blanks triggered cytotoxicity at high enrichment. Chemical recovery data together with single chemical effect data were used to retrospectively estimate with reverse recovery modelling that there was typically less than 30% effect loss expected due to reduced SPE recovery in published surface water monitoring studies. The combination of targeted experiments and mixture modelling clearly shows the utility of SPE as a sample preparation method for surface water samples, but also emphasizes the need for adequate controls when extraction methods are adapted from chemical analysis workflows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Werner Brack
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany. and RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Selim Aït-Aïssa
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Wibke Busch
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Juliane Hollender
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland and Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Martin Krauss
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
| | | | - Nicole A Munz
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland and Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Rita Schlichting
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Tobias Schulze
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Bernadette Vogler
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia and UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany. and Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
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10
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Leusch FDL, Aneck-Hahn NH, Cavanagh JAE, Du Pasquier D, Hamers T, Hebert A, Neale PA, Scheurer M, Simmons SO, Schriks M. Comparison of in vitro and in vivo bioassays to measure thyroid hormone disrupting activity in water extracts. CHEMOSPHERE 2018; 191:868-875. [PMID: 29107228 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.10.109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2017] [Revised: 10/17/2017] [Accepted: 10/20/2017] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Environmental chemicals can induce thyroid disruption through a number of mechanisms including altered thyroid hormone biosynthesis and transport, as well as activation and inhibition of the thyroid receptor. In the current study six in vitro bioassays indicative of different mechanisms of thyroid disruption and one whole animal in vivo assay were applied to 9 model compounds and 4 different water samples (treated wastewater, surface water, drinking water and ultra-pure lab water; both unspiked and spiked with model compounds) to determine their ability to detect thyroid active compounds. Most assays correctly identified and quantified the model compounds as agonists or antagonists, with the reporter gene assays being the most sensitive. However, the reporter gene assays did not detect significant thyroid activity in any of the water samples, suggesting that activation or inhibition of the thyroid hormone receptor is not a relevant mode of action for thyroid endocrine disruptors in water. The thyroperoxidase (TPO) inhibition assay and transthyretin (TTR) displacement assay (FITC) detected activity in the surface water and treated wastewater samples, but more work is required to assess if this activity is a true measure of thyroid activity or matrix interference. The whole animal Xenopus Embryonic Thyroid Assay (XETA) detected some activity in the unspiked surface water and treated wastewater extracts, but not in unspiked drinking water, and appears to be a suitable assay to detect thyroid activity in environmental waters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia.
| | - Natalie H Aneck-Hahn
- Environmental Chemical Pollution and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | | | | | - Timo Hamers
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department Environment & Health, De Boelelaan 1108, 1081 HZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Armelle Hebert
- Veolia Research & Innovation, 78600, Maisons-Laffitte, France
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia
| | - Marco Scheurer
- DVGW - Technologiezentrum Wasser, Karlsruher Str.84, 76139, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Steven O Simmons
- National Center for Computational Toxicology, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, United States
| | - Merijn Schriks
- KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, 3433 PE, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands; Vitens Drinking Water Company, 8019 BE, Zwolle, The Netherlands
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11
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Tousova Z, Oswald P, Slobodnik J, Blaha L, Muz M, Hu M, Brack W, Krauss M, Di Paolo C, Tarcai Z, Seiler TB, Hollert H, Koprivica S, Ahel M, Schollée JE, Hollender J, Suter MJF, Hidasi AO, Schirmer K, Sonavane M, Ait-Aissa S, Creusot N, Brion F, Froment J, Almeida AC, Thomas K, Tollefsen KE, Tufi S, Ouyang X, Leonards P, Lamoree M, Torrens VO, Kolkman A, Schriks M, Spirhanzlova P, Tindall A, Schulze T. European demonstration program on the effect-based and chemical identification and monitoring of organic pollutants in European surface waters. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017. [PMID: 28629112 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Growing concern about the adverse environmental and human health effects of a wide range of micropollutants requires the development of novel tools and approaches to enable holistic monitoring of their occurrence, fate and effects in the aquatic environment. A European-wide demonstration program (EDP) for effect-based monitoring of micropollutants in surface waters was carried out within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network EDA-EMERGE. The main objectives of the EDP were to apply a simplified protocol for effect-directed analysis, to link biological effects to target compounds and to estimate their risk to aquatic biota. Onsite large volume solid phase extraction of 50 L of surface water was performed at 18 sampling sites in four European river basins. Extracts were subjected to effect-based analysis (toxicity to algae, fish embryo toxicity, neurotoxicity, (anti-)estrogenicity, (anti-)androgenicity, glucocorticoid activity and thyroid activity), to target analysis (151 organic micropollutants) and to nontarget screening. The most pronounced effects were estrogenicity, toxicity to algae and fish embryo toxicity. In most bioassays, major portions of the observed effects could not be explained by target compounds, especially in case of androgenicity, glucocorticoid activity and fish embryo toxicity. Estrone and nonylphenoxyacetic acid were identified as the strongest contributors to estrogenicity, while herbicides, with a minor contribution from other micropollutants, were linked to the observed toxicity to algae. Fipronil and nonylphenol were partially responsible for the fish embryo toxicity. Within the EDP, 21 target compounds were prioritized on the basis of their frequency and extent of exceedance of predicted no effect concentrations. The EDP priority list included 6 compounds, which are already addressed by European legislation, and 15 micropollutants that may be important for future monitoring of surface waters. The study presents a novel simplified protocol for effect-based monitoring and draws a comprehensive picture of the surface water status across Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuzana Tousova
- Environmental Institute (EI), Okruzna 784/42, 972 41 Kos, Slovak Republic; Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, RECETOX, Kamenice 753/5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Peter Oswald
- Environmental Institute (EI), Okruzna 784/42, 972 41 Kos, Slovak Republic
| | - Jaroslav Slobodnik
- Environmental Institute (EI), Okruzna 784/42, 972 41 Kos, Slovak Republic
| | - Ludek Blaha
- Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, RECETOX, Kamenice 753/5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Melis Muz
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Meng Hu
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Werner Brack
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Martin Krauss
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Carolina Di Paolo
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Zsolt Tarcai
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Thomas-Benjamin Seiler
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Henner Hollert
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Sanja Koprivica
- Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Marijan Ahel
- Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Jennifer E Schollée
- Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Juliane Hollender
- Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Marc J-F Suter
- Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Anita O Hidasi
- Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; EPF Lausanne, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Kristin Schirmer
- Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland; EPF Lausanne, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Manoj Sonavane
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS), Unité ECOT, Parc ALATA - BP2, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Selim Ait-Aissa
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS), Unité ECOT, Parc ALATA - BP2, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Nicolas Creusot
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS), Unité ECOT, Parc ALATA - BP2, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Francois Brion
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS), Unité ECOT, Parc ALATA - BP2, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Jean Froment
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment, Gaustadallèen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway
| | - Ana Catarina Almeida
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment, Gaustadallèen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway
| | - Kevin Thomas
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment, Gaustadallèen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway; Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 39 Keesels Road, Coopers Plains 4108, Australia
| | - Knut Erik Tollefsen
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment, Gaustadallèen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway; Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Faculty of Environmental Science & Technology, Dept. for Environmental Sciences, Post Box 5003, N-1432 Ås, Norway
| | - Sara Tufi
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department Environment & Health, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Xiyu Ouyang
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department Environment & Health, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Pim Leonards
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department Environment & Health, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Marja Lamoree
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department Environment & Health, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Victoria Osorio Torrens
- KWR, Watercycle Research Institute, Department of Chemical Water, Quality and Health, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
| | - Annemieke Kolkman
- KWR, Watercycle Research Institute, Department of Chemical Water, Quality and Health, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
| | - Merijn Schriks
- KWR, Watercycle Research Institute, Department of Chemical Water, Quality and Health, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands; Vitens drinking water company, P.O Box 1205, 8001 BE Zwolle, The Netherlands
| | | | - Andrew Tindall
- WatchFrog S. A., 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 91000 Evry, France
| | - Tobias Schulze
- UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
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12
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Völker J, Vogt T, Castronovo S, Wick A, Ternes TA, Joss A, Oehlmann J, Wagner M. Extended anaerobic conditions in the biological wastewater treatment: Higher reduction of toxicity compared to target organic micropollutants. WATER RESEARCH 2017; 116:220-230. [PMID: 28340420 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.03.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2016] [Revised: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 03/11/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Extended anaerobic conditions during biological wastewater treatment may enhance the biodegradation of micropollutants. To explore this, we combined iron-reducing or substrate-limited anaerobic conditions and aerobic pilot-scale reactors directly at a wastewater treatment plant. To investigate the detoxification by these processes, we applied two in vitro bioassays for baseline toxicity (Microtox) and reactive toxicity (AREc32) as well as in vivo bioassays with aquatic model species in two laboratory experiments (Desmodesmus subspicatus, Daphnia magna) and two on-site, flow-through experiments (Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Lumbriculus variegatus). Moreover, we analyzed 31 commonly occurring micropollutants and 10 metabolites. The baseline toxicity of raw wastewater was effectively removed in full-scale and reactor scale activated sludge treatment (>85%), while the oxidative stress response was only partially removed (>61%). A combination of an anaerobic pre-treatment under iron reducing conditions and an aerobic nitrification significantly further reduced the residual in vitro toxicities by 46-60% and outperformed the second combination consisting of an aerobic pre-treatment and an anaerobic post-treatment under substrate-limiting conditions (27-43%). Exposure to effluents of the activated sludge treatment did not induce adverse in vivo effects in aquatic invertebrates. Accordingly, no further improvement in water quality could be observed. Compared to that, the removal of persistent micropollutants was increased. However, this observation was restricted to a limited number of compounds and the removal of the sum concentration of all target micropollutants was relative low (14-17%). In conclusion, combinations of strictly anaerobic and aerobic processes significantly enhanced the removal of specific and non-specific in vitro toxicities. Thus, an optimization of biological wastewater treatment can lead to a substantially improved detoxification. These otherwise hidden capacities of a treatment technology can only be uncovered by a complementary biological analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Völker
- Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Tobias Vogt
- Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Sandro Castronovo
- Federal Institute of Hydrology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Arne Wick
- Federal Institute of Hydrology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Thomas A Ternes
- Federal Institute of Hydrology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Adriano Joss
- Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Überlandstr. 133, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Jörg Oehlmann
- Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Martin Wagner
- Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany
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13
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Neale PA, Munz NA, Aїt-Aїssa S, Altenburger R, Brion F, Busch W, Escher BI, Hilscherová K, Kienle C, Novák J, Seiler TB, Shao Y, Stamm C, Hollender J. Integrating chemical analysis and bioanalysis to evaluate the contribution of wastewater effluent on the micropollutant burden in small streams. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 576:785-795. [PMID: 27810763 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2016] [Revised: 10/03/2016] [Accepted: 10/19/2016] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Surface waters can contain a range of micropollutants from point sources, such as wastewater effluent, and diffuse sources, such as agriculture. Characterizing the source of micropollutants is important for reducing their burden and thus mitigating adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems. In this study, chemical analysis and bioanalysis were applied to assess the micropollutant burden during low flow conditions upstream and downstream of three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharging into small streams in the Swiss Plateau. The upstream sites had no input of wastewater effluent, allowing a direct comparison of the observed effects with and without the contribution of wastewater. Four hundred and five chemicals were analyzed, while the applied bioassays included activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, activation of the androgen receptor, activation of the estrogen receptor, photosystem II inhibition, acetylcholinesterase inhibition and adaptive stress responses for oxidative stress, genotoxicity and inflammation, as well as assays indicative of estrogenic activity and developmental toxicity in zebrafish embryos. Chemical analysis and bioanalysis showed higher chemical concentrations and effects for the effluent samples, with the lowest chemical concentrations and effects in most assays for the upstream sites. Mixture toxicity modeling was applied to assess the contribution of detected chemicals to the observed effect. For most bioassays, very little of the observed effects could be explained by the detected chemicals, with the exception of photosystem II inhibition, where herbicides explained the majority of the effect. This emphasizes the importance of combining bioanalysis with chemical analysis to provide a more complete picture of the micropollutant burden. While the wastewater effluents had a significant contribution to micropollutant burden downstream, both chemical analysis and bioanalysis showed a relevant contribution of diffuse sources from upstream during low flow conditions, suggesting that upgrading WWTPs will not completely reduce the micropollutant burden, but further source control measures will be required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Nicole A Munz
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Selim Aїt-Aїssa
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Rolf Altenburger
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - François Brion
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Wibke Busch
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia; UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Klára Hilscherová
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Cornelia Kienle
- Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology Eawag-EPFL, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Jiří Novák
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Thomas-Benjamin Seiler
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Ying Shao
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Christian Stamm
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Juliane Hollender
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
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14
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Völker J, Castronovo S, Wick A, Ternes TA, Joss A, Oehlmann J, Wagner M. Advancing Biological Wastewater Treatment: Extended Anaerobic Conditions Enhance the Removal of Endocrine and Dioxin-like Activities. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2016; 50:10606-10615. [PMID: 26848848 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b05732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Conventional activated sludge treatment of wastewater does not completely remove micropollutants. Here, extending anaerobic conditions may enhance biodegradation. To explore this, we combined iron-reducing or substrate-limiting and aerobic pilot-scale reactors directly at a wastewater treatment plant. To assess the removal of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as group of micropollutants that adversely affects wildlife, we applied a bioanalytical approach. We used in vitro bioassays covering seven receptor-mediated mechanisms of action, including (anti)androgenicity, (anti)estrogenicity, retinoid-like, and dioxin-like activity. Untreated wastewater induced antiandrogenic, estrogenic, antiestrogenic, and retinoid-like activity. Full-scale as well as reactor-scale activated sludge treatment effectively removes the observed effects. Nevertheless, high antiandrogenic and minor dioxin-like and estrogenic effects persisted in the treated effluent that may still be environmentally relevant. The anaerobic post-treatment under substrate-limiting conditions resulted in an additional removal of endocrine activities by 17-40%. The anaerobic pre-treatment under iron-reducing conditions significantly enhanced the removal of the residual effects by 40-75%. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that a further optimization of biological wastewater treatment is possible. Here, implementing iron-reducing anaerobic conditions preceding aerobic treatment appears promising to improve the removal of receptor-mediated toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Völker
- Goethe University Frankfurt am Main , Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Sandro Castronovo
- Federal Institute of Hydrology , Am Mainzer Tor 1, D-56068 Koblenz, Germany
| | - Arne Wick
- Federal Institute of Hydrology , Am Mainzer Tor 1, D-56068 Koblenz, Germany
| | - Thomas A Ternes
- Federal Institute of Hydrology , Am Mainzer Tor 1, D-56068 Koblenz, Germany
| | - Adriano Joss
- Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology , Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Jörg Oehlmann
- Goethe University Frankfurt am Main , Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Martin Wagner
- Goethe University Frankfurt am Main , Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
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15
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Stalter D, Peters LI, O'Malley E, Tang JYM, Revalor M, Farré MJ, Watson K, von Gunten U, Escher BI. Sample Enrichment for Bioanalytical Assessment of Disinfected Drinking Water: Concentrating the Polar, the Volatiles, and the Unknowns. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2016; 50:6495-6505. [PMID: 27153244 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b00712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Enrichment methods used in sample preparation for the bioanalytical assessment of disinfected drinking water result in the loss of volatile and hydrophilic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and hence likely tend to underestimate biological effects. We developed and evaluated methods that are compatible with bioassays, for extracting nonvolatile and volatile DBPs from chlorinated and chloraminated drinking water to minimize the loss of analytes. For nonvolatile DBPs, solid-phase extraction (SPE) with TELOS ENV as solid phase performed superior compared to ten other sorbents. SPE yielded >70% recovery of nonpurgeable adsorbable organic halogens (AOX). For volatile DBPs, cryogenic vacuum distillation performed unsatisfactorily. Purge and cold-trap with crushed ice serving as condensation nuclei achieved recoveries of 50-100% for trihalomethanes and haloacetonitriles and approximately 60-90% for purged AOX from tap water. We compared the purgeable versus the nonpurgeable fraction by combining purge-and-trap extraction with SPE. The purgeable DBP fraction enriched with the purge-and-trap method exerted a lower oxidative stress response in mammalian cells than the nonpurgeable DBPs enriched with SPE after purging, while contributions of both fractions to bacterial cytotoxicity was more variable. 37 quantified DBPs explained almost the entire AOX in the purge-and-trap extracts, but <16% in the SPE extracts demonstrating that the nonpurgeable fraction is dominated by unknown DBPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Stalter
- National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland
| | - Leon I Peters
- National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
| | - Elissa O'Malley
- National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
| | - Janet Yat-Man Tang
- National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
| | - Marion Revalor
- Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Maria José Farré
- Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Kalinda Watson
- National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
| | - Urs von Gunten
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland
- School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Beate I Escher
- National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
- Department of Cell Toxicology, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research , 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University , 72074 Tübingen, Germany
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16
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Jahnke A, Mayer P, Schäfer S, Witt G, Haase N, Escher BI. Strategies for Transferring Mixtures of Organic Contaminants from Aquatic Environments into Bioassays. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2016; 50:5424-5431. [PMID: 26804122 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b04687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Mixtures of organic contaminants are ubiquitous in the environment. Depending on their persistence and physicochemical properties, individual chemicals that make up the mixture partition and distribute within the environment and might then jointly elicit toxicological effects. For the assessment and monitoring of such mixtures, a variety of cell-based in vitro and low-complexity in vivo bioassays based on algae, daphnids or fish embryos are available. A very important and sometimes unrecognized challenge is how to combine sampling, extraction and dosing to transfer the mixtures from the environment into bioassays, while conserving (or re-establishing) their chemical composition at adjustable levels for concentration-effect assessment. This article outlines various strategies for quantifiable transfer from environmental samples including water, sediment, and biota into bioassays using total extraction or polymer-based passive sampling combined with either solvent spiking or passive dosing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Jahnke
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstr. 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University , Svante Arrhenius väg 8, SE-114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Philipp Mayer
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark , Miljøvej B113, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Sabine Schäfer
- Department of Qualitative Hydrology, German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BFG) , Am Mainzer Tor 1, DE-56068 Koblenz, Germany
| | - Gesine Witt
- Department of Environmental Technology, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences , Ulmenliet 20, DE-21033 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nora Haase
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstr. 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- Department of Cell Toxicology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ , Permoserstr. 15, DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen , Hölderlinstr. 12, DE-72074 Tübingen, Germany
- National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), The University of Queensland , 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, Queensland 4108, Australia
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Neale PA, Escher BI, Leusch FDL. Understanding the implications of dissolved organic carbon when assessing antagonism in vitro: An example with an estrogen receptor assay. CHEMOSPHERE 2015; 135:341-346. [PMID: 25978675 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.04.084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2015] [Revised: 04/24/2015] [Accepted: 04/27/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Both estrogenic and anti-estrogenic activity has been observed in water samples. Some studies have suggested that dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which can be co-extracted during sample enrichment, contributes to the apparent antagonistic effect. DOC has a high sorption capacity for the estrogen receptor (ER) agonist 17β-estradiol, which may reduce the available 17β-estradiol concentration in the antagonist testing mode and potentially lead to apparent antagonism. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of DOC when assessing antagonism in an ER reporter gene assay. The presence of DOC shifted the 17β-estradiol concentration-effect curve to higher concentrations, increasing the nominal EC50 value by up to 0.3 log units. However, this shift was within the usual variability associated with repeated measurements of concentration-effect curves. This shift was not due to DOC being an antagonist itself or interfering with fluorescence measurements, but was due to DOC reducing the bioavailability of 17β-estradiol. This was demonstrated by modelling the DOC sorption corrected 17β-estradiol concentration using experimental DOC-water partition coefficients (KDOC). While the shift in the 17β-estradiol concentration-effect curve was minor, sorption of 17β-estradiol to DOC can have an impact when assessing antagonism. At the EC50 agonist concentration, both modelled and experimental results showed that DOC at concentrations similar to that co-extracted in water samples caused suppression of the agonist at levels that would be classified as antagonism. The suppression was less pronounced at the EC80 agonist concentration, hence this is recommended when assessing antagonism of DOC rich samples, such as surface water and wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Smart Water Research Centre, School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia.
| | - Beate I Escher
- The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia; UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Cell Toxicology, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Smart Water Research Centre, School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
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