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Tanveer R, Neale PA, Melvin SD, Leusch FDL. Application of in vitro bioassays to monitor pharmaceuticals in water: A synthesis of chronological analysis, mode of action, and practical insights. Chemosphere 2024; 359:142255. [PMID: 38729441 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
Pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater have emerged as a significant concern for the aquatic environment. The use of in vitro bioassays represents a sustainable and cost-effective approach for assessing the potential toxicological risks of these biologically active compounds in wastewater and aligns with ethical considerations in research. It facilitates high-throughput analysis, captures mixture effects, integrates impacts of both known and unknown chemicals, and reduces reliance on animal testing. The core aim of the current review was to explore the practical application of in vitro bioassays in evaluating the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals in wastewater. This comprehensive review strives to achieve several key objectives. First, it provides a summary categorisation of pharmaceuticals based on their mode of action, providing a structured framework for understanding their ecological significance. Second, a chronological analysis of pharmaceutical research aims to document their prevalence and trends over time, shedding light on evolving environmental challenges. Third, the review critically analyses existing bioassay applications in wastewater, while also examining bioassay coverage of representative compounds within major pharmaceutical classes. Finally, it explores the potential for developing innovative bioassays tailored for water quality monitoring of pharmaceuticals, paving the way for more robust environmental monitoring and risk assessment. Overall, adopting effect-based methods for pharmaceutical monitoring in water holds significant promise. It encompasses a broad spectrum of biological impacts, promotes standardized protocols, and supports a bioassay test battery approach indicative of different endpoints, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of environmental risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rameesha Tanveer
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia.
| | - Steven D Melvin
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia.
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia.
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Neale PA, Neelamraju C, Warne MSJ. Derivation of species sensitivity distributions and ecotoxicity threshold values for 66 pesticide active ingredients and the hazard and risk they pose to freshwater waterways that discharge to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Sci Total Environ 2024; 920:170988. [PMID: 38365043 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Pesticide active ingredients (PAIs) are one of the main contributors affecting water quality in the Great Barrier Reef Catchment Area (GBRCA). While an extensive list of pesticides is monitored in the GBRCA, only a limited number have water quality guideline values (WQGs), meaning it is not possible to know whether these PAIs are present at concentrations that may pose a hazard to the aquatic environment. In the current study, we derived 66 ecotoxicity threshold values (ETVs) for PAIs, the equivalent of WQGs, with a focus on PAIs applied to sugar cane. The hazard posed by PAIs monitored as part of the Great Barrier Reef Catchment Loads Monitoring Program (GBRCLMP) was assessed by comparing the derived ETVs with monitoring data from 2016/2017 to 2021/2022. The derived ETVs included herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, with the values that should protect 99 or 95 % of aquatic species (PC99 or PC95) spanning nine orders of magnitude. The concentrations of 10 PAIs exceeded their respective ETVs, giving a hazard quotient (HQ) >1. Of particular concern were insecticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon and methomyl, which have maximum HQ values >10. However, joint probability plots indicated that the PAIs generally pose a low risk to the aquatic environment, with most samples below the limit of reporting. As PAIs are predominantly found in mixtures in the GBRCA, the hazard posed by PAI mixtures was assessed by summing all individual HQ values in a sample for all PAIs with an ETV or WQG. On average, the insecticide active ingredient imidacloprid and herbicide active ingredients metolachlor, metsulfuron methyl, diuron and imazepic were the drivers of combined mixture hazard. Methomyl was an important contributor at some sites, suggesting that this pesticide should be considered for inclusion in any future PAI mixture hazard and/or risk assessment of the GBRCA.
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Affiliation(s)
- P A Neale
- Reef Catchments Science Partnership, School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
| | - C Neelamraju
- Reef Catchments Science Partnership, School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia; Water Quality and Investigations, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Science, Science Delivery, Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - M St J Warne
- Reef Catchments Science Partnership, School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia; Water Quality and Investigations, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Science, Science Delivery, Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia; Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, Coventry, United Kingdom.
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Lu HC, Melvin SD, Ziajahromi S, Neale PA, Leusch FDL, Kumar A. Polyethylene microplastics induced lipidomic responses in Chironomus tepperi: A two-generational exploration. Sci Total Environ 2024; 919:170837. [PMID: 38350569 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) accumulating in freshwater sediment have raised concerns about potential risks to benthic dwelling organisms, yet few studies have examined the long-term impacts caused by MP exposure. This study investigated alterations to lipid profiles in an Australian freshwater invertebrate, Chironomus tepperi, induced by polyethylene MP fragments (1-45 μm) at environmentally relevant concentrations (125, 250, 500 and 1000 MPs/kg sediment), using a two-generational experimental design. In the parental generation, the relative abundance of triacylglycerols, total fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids exhibited apparent hormetic patterns, with low-concentration stimulation and high-concentration inhibition observed. The overall trend in these lipid classes is consistent with previously observed changes to polar metabolite profiles, indicating that ingestion of MPs could inhibit nutrient assimilation from food leading to disruption of energy availability. In the first filial generation continuously exposed to MPs, however, abundance of cholesterol and total fatty acids increased with increasing exposure concentrations, suggesting different effects on energy metabolism between the parental generation and offspring. No differences in the lipidome were observed in first filial larvae that were not exposed, implying that MPs pose negligible carry-over effects. Overall, the combined results of this study together with a preceding metabolomics study provide evidence of a physical effect of MPs with subsequent impacts to bioenergetics. Nevertheless, future research is required to explore the potential long-term impacts caused by MPs, and to unravel the impacts of the surfactant control as a potential contributor to the observed hormetic response, particularly for studies exploring sub-lethal effects of MP exposure using sensitive omics techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsuan-Cheng Lu
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia; Environment, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia.
| | - Steven D Melvin
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Anupama Kumar
- Environment, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia
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Leusch FDL, Allen H, De Silva NAL, Hodson R, Johnson M, Neale PA, Stewart M, Tremblay LA, Wilde T, Northcott GL. Effect-based monitoring of two rivers under urban and agricultural influence reveals a range of biological activities in sediment and water extracts. J Environ Manage 2024; 351:119692. [PMID: 38039589 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 11/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
Chemical contaminants, such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial compounds are ubiquitous in surface water and sediment in areas subject to human activity. While targeted chemical analysis is typically used for water and sediment quality monitoring, there is growing interest in applying effect-based methods with in vitro bioassays to capture the effects of all active contaminants in a sample. The current study evaluated the biological effects in surface water and sediment from two contrasting catchments in Aotearoa New Zealand, the highly urbanised Whau River catchment in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and the urban and mixed agricultural Koreti (New River) Estuary catchment. Two complementary passive sampling devices, Chemcatcher for polar chemicals and polyethylene (PED) for non-polar chemicals, were applied to capture a wide range of contaminants in water, while composite sediment samples were collected at each sampling site. Bioassays indicative of induction of xenobiotic metabolism, receptor-mediated effects, genotoxicity, cytotoxicity and apical effects were applied to the water and sediment extracts. Most sediment extracts induced moderate to strong estrogenic and aryl hydrocarbon (AhR) activity, along with moderate toxicity to bacteria. The water extracts showed similar patterns to the sediment extracts, but with lower activity. Generally, the polar Chemcatcher extracts showed greater estrogenic activity, photosynthesis inhibition and algal growth inhibition than the non-polar PED extracts, though the PED extracts showed greater AhR activity. The observed effects in the water extracts were compared to available ecological effect-based trigger values (EBT) to evaluate the potential risk. For the polar extracts, most sites in both catchments exceeded the EBT for estrogenicity, with many sites exceeding the EBTs for AhR activity and photosynthesis inhibition. Of the wide range of endpoints considered, estrogenic activity, AhR activity and herbicidal activity appear to be the primary risk drivers in both the Whau and Koreti Estuary catchments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4222, Australia.
| | - Hamish Allen
- Research and Evaluation Unit, Auckland Council, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | | | - Roger Hodson
- Environment Southland Regional Council, Invercargill, 9810, New Zealand; Riverscape Enhancement Consulting, Invercargill, 9840, New Zealand
| | - Matthew Johnson
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4222, Australia
| | | | - Louis A Tremblay
- Cawthron Institute, Nelson, 7010, New Zealand; School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
| | - Taylor Wilde
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4222, Australia
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Rogers JD, Leusch FD, Chambers B, Daniels KD, Everett LJ, Judson R, Maruya K, Mehinto AC, Neale PA, Paul-Friedman K, Thomas R, Snyder SA, Harrill J. High-Throughput Transcriptomics of Water Extracts Detects Reductions in Biological Activity with Water Treatment Processes. Environ Sci Technol 2024; 58:2027-2037. [PMID: 38235672 PMCID: PMC11003563 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c07525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
The presence of numerous chemical contaminants from industrial, agricultural, and pharmaceutical sources in water supplies poses a potential risk to human and ecological health. Current chemical analyses suffer from limitations, including chemical coverage and high cost, and broad-coverage in vitro assays such as transcriptomics may further improve water quality monitoring by assessing a large range of possible effects. Here, we used high-throughput transcriptomics to assess the activity induced by field-derived water extracts in MCF7 breast carcinoma cells. Wastewater and surface water extracts induced the largest changes in expression among cell proliferation-related genes and neurological, estrogenic, and antibiotic pathways, whereas drinking and reclaimed water extracts that underwent advanced treatment showed substantially reduced bioactivity on both gene and pathway levels. Importantly, reclaimed water extracts induced fewer changes in gene expression than laboratory blanks, which reinforces previous conclusions based on targeted assays and improves confidence in bioassay-based monitoring of water quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse D. Rogers
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Frederic D.L. Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Bryant Chambers
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | | | - Logan J. Everett
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Richard Judson
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Keith Maruya
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authority, 3535 Harbor Boulevard, Suite 110, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA
| | - Alvine C. Mehinto
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authority, 3535 Harbor Boulevard, Suite 110, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA
| | - Peta A. Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Katie Paul-Friedman
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Russell Thomas
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Shane A. Snyder
- Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, CleanTech One, #06-08, 637141, Singapore
| | - Joshua Harrill
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
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Lu HC, Kumar A, Melvin SD, Ziajahromi S, Neale PA, Leusch FDL. Metabolomic responses in freshwater benthic invertebrate, Chironomus tepperi, exposed to polyethylene microplastics: A two-generational investigation. J Hazard Mater 2023; 459:132097. [PMID: 37541122 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/06/2023]
Abstract
The accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in sediments could pose risks to benthic organisms and their progeny. Here, we examined effects on traditional apical endpoints along with changes to whole body metabolite profiles induced by irregular shaped polyethylene MPs (1-45 µm) at environmentally relevant concentrations (125, 250, 500 and 1000 MPs/kg sediment) in Chironomus tepperi using a two-generation exposure regime. Survival and emergence of C. tepperi were negatively affected in the parental generation at the two highest concentrations, whereas endpoints associated with growth were only impacted at 1000 MPs/kg sediment. Metabolites associated with several amino acid and energy metabolism pathways were present at lower abundances at the highest exposure concentration suggesting an overall impact on bioenergetics which relates to the inhibition of food acquisition or nutrient assimilation caused by ingestion of MPs, rather than a traditional receptor-mediated toxicity response. In contrast, no significant effects on apical endpoints were observed in the continuous exposure of first filial generation, and lactic acid was the only metabolite that differed significantly between groups. Larvae in unexposed conditions showed no differences in survival or metabolite profiles suggesting that effects in the parental generation do not carry over to the next filial generation. The findings provide evidence on the underlying impacts of MP ingestion and potential adaption to MP exposure of C. tepperi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsuan-Cheng Lu
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia; Environment, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia.
| | - Anupama Kumar
- Environment, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia
| | - Steven D Melvin
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia
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St John Warne M, Neale PA, Macpherson MJ. A Pesticide Decision Support Tool to guide the selection of less environmentally harmful pesticides for the sugar cane industry. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2023; 30:108036-108050. [PMID: 37747608 PMCID: PMC10611884 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29814-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Pesticides applied to agricultural land have been shown to decrease the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. This issue is addressed by the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan which includes a pesticide reduction target. As part of a wider educational strategy, one method that could help meet the target is to provide stakeholders with information that assists in the selection and use of pesticide active ingredients (PAIs) that pose a lower risk to aquatic environments compared to those currently used. This study developed a Pesticide Decision Support Tool (PDST) in collaboration with stakeholders for the sugar cane industry. The PDST covers all PAIs registered and applied to sugar cane in Australia and four additional PAIs registered for use on crops grown in rotation with sugar cane. The PDST incorporates both the measure of mobility and persistence of a PAI and the measure of effect, which is based on the PAI application rate and ecotoxicity threshold value. The aquatic risk, which is the product of the measure of effect and the measure of mobility and persistence, is a measure of the likelihood that a PAI will reach the aquatic environment and cause harmful effects. Insecticide active ingredients (e.g., cadusafos, chlorpyrifos) posed the greatest aquatic risk, followed by herbicide active ingredients (e.g., MSMA, metolachlor), while fungicide AIs typically had a lower aquatic risk. An interactive spreadsheet allows characteristics, including application rate and tank mixes, to be considered when assessing the potential risk. While focusing on sugar cane, the results are equally appropriate to other crops that use the same PAIs provided the application rates are corrected to the new crop. In addition, the approach used in the PDST can be applied internationally and to any PAIs with sufficient toxicity, mobility, and persistence data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael St John Warne
- Reef Catchments Science Partnership, School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4108, Australia.
- Water Quality and Investigations, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Science, Science Delivery, Department of Environment and Science, Brisbane, Queensland, 4102, Australia.
- Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, Coventry, UK.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Reef Catchments Science Partnership, School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4108, Australia
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Neale PA, Melvin SD, Hancock M, Leusch FDL. ECHIDNA (Emerging CHemIcals Database for National Awareness): a framework to prioritise contaminants of emerging concern in water. J Water Health 2023; 21:1357-1368. [PMID: 37756201 PMCID: wh_2023_190 DOI: 10.2166/wh.2023.190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
The widespread presence of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in surface waters, treated wastewater and drinking water is an ongoing issue for the water industry. The absence of regulatory guidance and limited occurrence, toxicity and removal data are defining criteria of CEC and make it difficult to prioritise which CEC pose the greatest risk. The online Emerging CHemIcals Database for National Awareness (ECHIDNA) aims to classify and prioritise CEC based on their potential risk, with the information presented in an easily accessible and intuitive manner. A candidate list of almost 1,800 potential CEC, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial compounds, was compiled using both Australian and international resources. These were ranked based on in silico assessment of their persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) properties, as well as potential chronic toxicity hazard, yielding 247 CEC for further prioritisation. Risk Quotients (RQ) identified between 5 and 87 CEC posing a risk to human and ecosystem health, respectively, across drinking water, surface water, treated wastewater and raw wastewater. While the ability of the water industry to effectively prioritise CEC is limited by candidate identification and data availability, ECHIDNA can provide valuable information for better decision-making surrounding CEC management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia E-mail:
| | - Steven D Melvin
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Marty Hancock
- Water Research Australia Limited, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
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Neale PA, Escher BI, de Baat ML, Dechesne M, Dingemans MML, Enault J, Pronk GJ, Smeets PWMH, Leusch FDL. Application of Effect-Based Methods to Water Quality Monitoring: Answering Frequently Asked Questions by Water Quality Managers, Regulators, and Policy Makers. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:6023-6032. [PMID: 37026997 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c06365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Effect-based methods (EBM) have great potential for water quality monitoring as they can detect the mixture effects of all active known and unknown chemicals in a sample, which cannot be addressed by chemical analysis alone. To date, EBM have primarily been applied in a research context, with a lower level of uptake by the water sector and regulators. This is partly due to concerns regarding the reliability and interpretation of EBM. Using evidence from the peer-reviewed literature, this work aims to answer frequently asked questions about EBM. The questions were identified through consultation with the water industry and regulators and cover topics related to the basis for using EBM, practical considerations regarding reliability, sampling for EBM and quality control, and what to do with the information provided by EBM. The information provided in this work aims to give confidence to regulators and the water sector to stimulate the application of EBM 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
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
- Department of Cell Toxicology, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Environmental Toxicology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Milo L de Baat
- KWR Water Research Institute, 3433 PE Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
| | - Magali Dechesne
- Veolia Research & Innovation,765 rue Henri Becquerel, 34965 Montpellier, France
| | - Milou M L Dingemans
- KWR Water Research Institute, 3433 PE Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jérôme Enault
- SUEZ CIRSEE, 38 rue du President Wilson, 78230 Le Pecq, France
| | - Geertje J Pronk
- KWR Water Research Institute, 3433 PE Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
| | | | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
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Neale PA, Escher BI, de Baat ML, Enault J, Leusch FDL. Effect-Based Trigger Values Are Essential for the Uptake of Effect-Based Methods in Water Safety Planning. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023; 42:714-726. [PMID: 36524849 DOI: 10.1002/etc.5544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 11/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Effect-based methods (EBMs) using in vitro bioassays and well plate-based in vivo assays are recommended for water quality monitoring because they can capture the mixture effects of the many chemicals present in water. Many in vitro bioassays are highly sensitive, so an effect in a bioassay does not necessarily indicate poor chemical water quality. Consequently, effect-based trigger values (EBTs) have been introduced to differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable chemical water quality and are required for the wider acceptance of EBMs by the water sector and regulatory bodies. These EBTs have been derived for both drinking water and surface water to protect human and ecological health, respectively, and are available for assays indicative of specific receptor-mediated effects, as well as assays indicative of adaptive stress responses, apical effects, and receptor-mediated effects triggered by many chemicals. An overview of currently available EBTs is provided, and a simple approach is proposed to predict interim EBTs for assays currently without an EBT based on the effect concentration of the assay reference compound. There was good agreement between EBTs predicted using this simplistic approach and EBTs from the literature derived using more robust methods. Finally, an interpretation framework that outlines the steps to take if the effect of a sample exceeds the EBT was developed to help facilitate the uptake of EBMs in routine water quality monitoring and water safety planning for drinking water production. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:714-726. © 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Cell Toxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
- Environmental Toxicology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Milo L de Baat
- KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
| | | | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
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Leusch FD, Lu HC, Perera K, Neale PA, Ziajahromi S. Analysis of the literature shows a remarkably consistent relationship between size and abundance of microplastics across different environmental matrices. Environ Pollut 2023; 319:120984. [PMID: 36587782 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Microplastics come in a variety of shapes, polymer types and sizes. Due to the lack of a harmonised approach to analyse and quantify microplastics, there are huge disparities in size detection limits and size classifications used in the literature. This has caused large variations in reported microplastic data and has made comparing microplastic abundance between studies extremely challenging. Herein, we applied a simple mathematical approach that allows for a meaningful comparison between size and abundance (number of particles) of microplastics irrespective of the size classifications used. This method was validated using two separate datasets (microplastics in air and sediment) and applied to re-analyse 127 publications reporting microplastics in various environmental matrices. We demonstrate a strong negative linear relationship between microplastic concentrations and their sizes with comparable slopes across all matrices. Using this method, it is possible to compare the concentration of microplastics of various sizes between studies. It also allows estimation of the abundance of microplastics of a specific size where data are not available. This enables researchers to predict environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastics (particularly for smaller microplastics) and provide realistic exposure scenarios in future toxicity studies, which will greatly improve our understanding of the risks that microplastics pose to living organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic Dl Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia.
| | - Hsuan-Cheng Lu
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Kushani Perera
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia
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12
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Neale PA, Escher BI, de Baat ML, Dechesne M, Deere DA, Enault J, Kools SAE, Loret JF, Smeets PWMH, Leusch FDL. Effect-based monitoring to integrate the mixture hazards of chemicals into water safety plans. J Water Health 2022; 20:1721-1732. [PMID: 36573675 DOI: 10.2166/wh.2022.165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Water safety plans (WSPs) are intended to assure safe drinking water (DW). WSPs involve assessing and managing risks associated with microbial, chemical, physical and radiological hazards from the catchment to the consumer. Currently, chemical hazards in WSPs are assessed by targeted chemical analysis, but this approach fails to account for the mixture effects of the many chemicals potentially present in water supplies and omits the possible effects of non-targeted chemicals. Consequently, effect-based monitoring (EBM) using in vitro bioassays and well plate-based in vivo assays are proposed as a complementary tool to targeted chemical analysis to support risk analysis, risk management and water quality verification within the WSP framework. EBM is frequently applied to DW and surface water and can be utilised in all defined monitoring categories within the WSP framework (including 'system assessment', 'validation', 'operational' and 'verification'). Examples of how EBM can be applied within the different WSP modules are provided, along with guidance on where to apply EBM and how frequently. Since this is a new area, guidance documents, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and decision-making frameworks are required for both bioassay operators and WSP teams to facilitate the integration of EBM into WSPs, with these resources being developed currently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia E-mail:
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia E-mail: ; Department of Cell Toxicology, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany; Environmental Toxicology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen 72076, Germany
| | - Milo L de Baat
- KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
| | - Magali Dechesne
- Veolia Research & Innovation, 765 rue Henri Becquerel, Montpellier 34965, France
| | | | - Jérôme Enault
- SUEZ CIRSEE, 38 rue du President Wilson, Le Pecq 78230, France
| | | | | | | | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia E-mail:
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13
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Lu HC, Ziajahromi S, Locke A, Neale PA, Leusch FDL. Microplastics profile in constructed wetlands: Distribution, retention and implications. Environ Pollut 2022; 313:120079. [PMID: 36064057 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 08/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater and stormwater are both considered as critical pathways contributing microplastics (MPs) to the aquatic environment. However, there is little information in the literature about the potential influence of constructed wetlands (CWs), a commonly used wastewater and stormwater treatment system. This study was conducted to investigate the abundance and distribution of MPs in water and sediment at five CWs with different influent sources, namely stormwater and wastewater. The MP abundance in the water samples ranged between 0.4 ± 0.3 and 3.8 ± 2.3 MP/L at the inlet and from 0.1 ± 0.0 to 1.3 ± 1.0 MP/L at the outlet. In the sediment, abundance of MPs was generally higher at the inlet, ranging from 736 ± 335 to 3480 ± 4330 MP/kg dry sediment and decreased to between 19.0 ± 16.4 and 1060 ± 326 MP/kg dry sediment at the outlet. Although no significant differences were observed in sediment cores at different depth across the five CWs, more MPs were recorded in silt compared to sandy sediment which indicated sediment grain size could be an environmental factor contributing to the distribution of MPs. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibres were the dominant polymer type found in the water samples while polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) fragments were predominantly recorded in the sediment. While the size of MPs in water varied across the studied CWs, between 51% and 64% of MPs in the sediment were smaller than 300 μm, which raises concerns about the bioavailability of MPs to a wider range of wetland biota and their potential ecotoxicological effects. This study shows that CWs can not only retain MPs in the treated water, but also become sinks accumulating MPs over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsuan-Cheng Lu
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld, 4222, Australia.
| | - Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Ashley Locke
- Central Analytical Research Facility, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Qld, 4000, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld, 4222, Australia
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14
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Nguyen QA, Vu HP, McDonald JA, Nguyen LN, Leusch FDL, Neale PA, Khan SJ, Nghiem LD. Chiral Inversion of 2-Arylpropionic Acid Enantiomers under Anaerobic Conditions. Environ Sci Technol 2022; 56:8197-8208. [PMID: 35675163 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c01602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
This work examined the chiral inversion of 2-arylpropionic acids (2-APAs) under anaerobic conditions and the associated microbial community. The anaerobic condition was simulated by two identical anaerobic digesters. Each digester was fed with the substrate containing 11 either pure (R)- or pure (S)-2-APA enantiomers. Chiral inversion was evidenced by the concentration increase of the other enantiomer in the digestate and the changes in the enantiomeric fraction between the two enantiomers. Both digesters showed similar and poor removal of 2-APAs (≤30%, except for naproxen) and diverse chiral inversion behaviors under anaerobic conditions. Four compounds exhibited (S → R) unidirectional inversion [flurbiprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen, and 2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)propionic acid], and the remaining seven compounds showed bidirectional inversion. Several aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacterial genera (Candidatus Microthrix, Rhodococcus, Mycobacterium, Gordonia, and Sphingobium) were identified in both digesters and predicted to harbor the 2-arylpropionyl-CoA epimerase (enzyme involved in chiral inversion) encoding gene. These genera presented at low abundances, <0.5% in the digester dosed with (R)-2-APAs and <0.2% in the digester dosed with (S)-2-APAs. The low abundances of these genera explain the limited extent of chiral inversion observed in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quynh Anh Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Hang P Vu
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, New South Wales, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Luong N Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo 2007, New South Wales, Australia
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15
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Lu HC, Ziajahromi S, Neale PA, Leusch FDL. Letter to the Editor regarding "Microplastics: A review of analytical methods, occurrence and characteristics in food, and potential toxicities to biota" by Bai et al. (2022). Sci Total Environ 2022; 819:152706. [PMID: 35007593 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Hsuan-Cheng Lu
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia.
| | - Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia
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16
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Nguyen AQ, Nguyen LN, McDonald JA, Nghiem LD, Leusch FDL, Neale PA, Khan SJ. Chiral inversion of 2-arylpropionoic acid (2-APA) enantiomers during simulated biological wastewater treatment. Water Res 2022; 209:117871. [PMID: 34872028 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
This study examined the removal and enantio‑specific fate of a suite of eleven chiral 2-arylpropionic acids (2-APAs) during biological wastewater treatment simulated in a laboratory-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR). Using pure (R)- and (S)- enantiomers in the MBR influent, chiral inversion was determined through the increase in the concentration of the non-dominant enantiomer and changes in the enantiomeric fraction (EF) between the two enantiomers during the treatment process. Effective (>90%) and similar removal rates between (R)- and (S)- enantiomers were confirmed for eight 2-APAs. In this study, 2-APAs exhibited diverse and distinctive chiral inversion behaviours: two 2-APAs showed (R→S) unidirectional inversion, three 2-APAs showed (S→R) unidirectional inversion, and six 2-APAs showed bidirectional inversion. This is the first study to report chiral inversion behaviours of a comprehensive suite of 2-APAs with a variety of functional groups substituted onto the aryl ring. A decrease in effluent EF over time was observed for two 2-APAs. This study shows that chiral inversion of 2-APAs varies significantly from compound to compound, despite the high similarity in their chemical structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anh Q Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Luong N Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
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17
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Franklin HM, Doederer K, Neale PA, Hayton JB, Fisher P, Maxwell P, Carroll AR, Burford MA, Leusch FDL. Terrestrial dissolved organic matter source affects disinfection by-product formation during water treatment and subsequent toxicity. Environ Pollut 2021; 283:117232. [PMID: 34034019 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Restoring woody vegetation to riparian zones helps to protect waterways from excessive sediment and nutrient inputs. However, the associated leaf litter can be a major source of dissolved organic matter (DOM) leached into surface waters. DOM can lead to the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) during drinking water treatment. This study investigated the DBPs formed during chlorination of DOM leached from leaf litter and assessed the potential toxicity of DBPs generated. We compared the leachate of two native Australian riparian trees, Casuarina cunninghamiana and Eucalyptus tereticornis, and a reservoir water source from a catchment dominated by Eucalyptus species. Leachates were diluted to dissolved organic carbon concentrations equivalent to the reservoir (~9 mg L-1). E. tereticornis leachates produced more trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), and haloketones after chlorination, while C. cunninghamiana produced more chloral hydrate and haloacetonitriles. Leachate from both species produced less THMs and more HAAs per mole of carbon than reservoir water. This may be because reservoir water had more aromatic, humic characteristics while leaf leachates had relatively more protein-like components. Using in vitro bioassays to test the mixture effects of all chemicals, chlorinated E. tereticornis leachate induced oxidative stress in HepG2 liver cells and bacterial toxicity more frequently and at lower concentrations than C. cunninghamiana and reservoir water. Overall, this study has shown that the DOM leached from litter of these species has the potential to generate DBPs and each species has a unique DBP profile with differing bioassay responses. E. tereticornis may pose a relatively greater risk to drinking water than C. cunninghamiana as it showed greater toxicity in bioassays. This implies tree species should be considered when planning riparian zones to ensure the benefits of vegetation to waterways are not offset by unintended increased DBP production and associated toxicity following chlorination at downstream drinking water intakes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah M Franklin
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
| | - Katrin Doederer
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, Gehrmann Building, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Joshua B Hayton
- School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Southport, 4222, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - Paul Fisher
- Seqwater, 117 Brisbane Street, Ipswich, 4305, Queensland, Australia
| | - Paul Maxwell
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Healthy Land and Water, Brisbane City, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Alluvium Consulting, Fortitude Valley, 4006, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; The University of Queensland, School of Chemical Engineering, Don Nicklin Building, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Anthony R Carroll
- Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Southport, 4222, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Michele A Burford
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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18
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Bain PA, Gregg A, Pandey AK, Mudiam MKR, Neale PA, Kumar A. Using bioanalytical tools to detect and track organic micropollutants in the Ganga River near two major cities. J Hazard Mater 2021; 404:124135. [PMID: 33049624 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Revised: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Major rivers in India are subject to ongoing impacts from urban drain discharges, most of which contain high levels of domestic and industrial wastewater and stormwater. The aim of the present study was to determine the levels of bioactive organic micropollutants at the discharge points of major urban drains in comparison to upstream and downstream sites. To achieve this, we employed a panel of in vitro bioanalytical tools to quantify estrogenic, androgenic, progestogenic, glucocorticoid and peroxisome proliferator-like activity in water extracts collected from two Indian cities in the Ganga Basin. Cytotoxicity of the water extracts in a human-derived cell line and the potential to cause oxidative stress in a fish cell line were also investigated. We found high levels of activity for all endpoints in samples directly receiving urban drain discharge and low levels at sites upstream from drain discharges. Estrogenicity was detected at levels equivalent to 10 ng/L 17β-estradiol, representing a high likelihood of biomarker effects in fish. Sites located downstream from drain discharges exhibited low to intermediate activity in all assays. This study demonstrates the importance of managing urban drain discharges and the utility of applying bioanalytical tools to assess water quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter A Bain
- CSIRO Land and Water, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond 5062, South Australia, Australia
| | - Adrienne Gregg
- CSIRO Land and Water, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond 5062, South Australia, Australia
| | - Alok K Pandey
- Nanomaterial Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Vishvigyan Bhavan, 31, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226001, India
| | - Mohana Krishna Reddy Mudiam
- CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Analytical & Structural Chemistry Department, Uppal Road, Tarnaka, Hyderabad, Telangana 500007, India
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport 4222, Queensland, Australia
| | - Anu Kumar
- CSIRO Land and Water, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond 5062, South Australia, Australia.
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19
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Escher BI, Neale PA. Effect-Based Trigger Values for Mixtures of Chemicals in Surface Water Detected with In Vitro Bioassays. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021; 40:487-499. [PMID: 33252775 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Revised: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Effect-based trigger (EBT) values for in vitro bioassays are important for surface water quality monitoring because they define the threshold between acceptable and poor water quality. They have been derived for highly specific bioassays, such as hormone-receptor activation in reporter gene bioassays, by reading across from existing chemical guideline values. This read-across method is not easily applicable to bioassays indicative of adaptive stress responses, which are triggered by many different chemicals, and activation of nuclear receptors for xenobiotic metabolism, to which many chemicals bind with rather low specificity. We propose an alternative approach to define the EBT from the distribution of specificity ratios of all active chemicals. The specificity ratio is the ratio between the predicted baseline toxicity of a chemical in a given bioassay and its measured specific endpoint. Unlike many previous read-across methods to derive EBTs, the proposed method accounts for mixture effects and includes all chemicals, not only high-potency chemicals. The EBTs were derived from a cytotoxicity EBT that was defined as equivalent to 1% of cytotoxicity in a native surface water sample. The cytotoxicity EBT was scaled by the median of the log-normal distribution of specificity ratios to derive the EBT for effects specific for each bioassay. We illustrate the new approach using the example of the AREc32 assay, indicative of the oxidative stress response, and 2 nuclear receptor assays targeting the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and the arylhydrocarbon receptor. The EBTs were less conservative than previously proposed but were able to differentiate untreated and insufficiently treated wastewater from wastewater treatment plant effluent with secondary or tertiary treatment and surface water. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:487-499. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate I Escher
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
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20
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Markovic M, Neale PA, Nidumolu B, Kumar A. Combined toxicity of therapeutic pharmaceuticals to duckweed, Lemna minor. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2021; 208:111428. [PMID: 33068976 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Pharmaceuticals, which are designed to be biologically active at low concentrations, are found in surface waters, meaning aquatic organisms can be exposed to complex mixtures of pharmaceuticals. In this study, the adverse effects of four pharmaceuticals, 17α-ethynylestradiol (synthetic estrogen), methotrexate (anticancer drug), diclofenac (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and fluoxetine (antidepressant), and their binary mixtures at mg/L concentrations were assessed using the 7-day Lemna minor test, with both apical and biochemical markers evaluated. The studied biochemical markers included chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids and oxidative stress enzymes catalase, glutathione-S-transferase and glutathione reductase, with effects compared to solvent controls. The adverse effects on Lemna minor were dose-dependent for frond number, surface area, relative chlorophyll content and activity of glutathione S-transferase for both individual pharmaceuticals and binary mixtures. According to the individual toxicity values, all tested pharmaceuticals can be considered as toxic or harmful to aquatic organisms, with methotrexate considered highly toxic. The most sensitive endpoints for the binary mixtures were photosynthetic pigments and frond surface area, with effects observed in the low mg/L concentration range. The concentration addition model and toxic unit approach gave similar mixture toxicity predictions, with binary mixtures of methotrexate and fluoxetine or methotrexate and 17α-ethynylestradiol exhibiting synergistic effects. In contrast, mixtures of diclofenac with fluoxetine, 17α-ethynylestradiol or methotrexate mostly showed additive effects. While low concentrations of methotrexate are expected in surface water, chronic ecotoxicological data for invertebrates and fish are lacking, but this is required to better assess the environmental risk of methotrexate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marijana Markovic
- CSIRO Land and Water, Waite Road, Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia; Soil Science, School of Agriculture Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, PMB 1 Glen Osmond, SA 5064 Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Bhanu Nidumolu
- CSIRO Land and Water, Waite Road, Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia
| | - Anu Kumar
- CSIRO Land and Water, Waite Road, Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia.
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21
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Ziajahromi S, Neale PA, Telles Silveira I, Chua A, Leusch FDL. An audit of microplastic abundance throughout three Australian wastewater treatment plants. Chemosphere 2021; 263:128294. [PMID: 33297236 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as an important pathway of microplastics to the environment. Most studies have focused on wastewater effluent, but generally only a small fraction of microplastics entering WWTPs are present in treated effluent. Instead, the majority of microplastics are expected to be retained in the sludge. To our knowledge, there is limited information on microplastics in sludge/biosolids from Australian WWTPs, despite 75% of biosolids produced in Australia being used for agriculture. This study evaluated the abundance of microplastics throughout the treatment trains of three WWTPs in Australia. The fate of microplastics >25 μm during treatment and their release to the environment was evaluated using an audit approach. The highest microplastic concentrations were detected in the influent, with fibres the dominant form of microplastic found. The screening and grit removal process preceding primary treatment removed 69-79% of microplastics, with these microplastics transported to landfill. Only 0.2-1.8% of the total microplastics in the influent were present in the final effluent, while 8-16% were retained in biosolids. This equates to between 22.1 × 106 to 133 × 106 microplastic particles per day released in effluent, between 864 × 106 to 1020 × 106 microplastic particles per day in biosolids, and between 4100 × 106 to 9100 × 106 microplastic particles per day transported to landfill. This study shows for the first time that most microplastics are retained during the initial screening and grit removal process with the load of microplastics going to landfill an order of magnitude greater than that in biosolids. Landfills may thus be an important sink (and potential future source) of microplastics from wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia
| | | | - Andrew Chua
- Water Corporation WA, Perth WA, 6000, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport Qld 4222, Australia
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22
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Neale PA, O’Brien JW, Glauch L, König M, Krauss M, Mueller JF, Tscharke B, Escher BI. Wastewater treatment efficacy evaluated with in vitro bioassays. Water Res X 2020; 9:100072. [PMID: 33089130 PMCID: PMC7559864 DOI: 10.1016/j.wroa.2020.100072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2020] [Revised: 09/19/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Bioassays show promise as a complementary approach to chemical analysis to assess the efficacy of wastewater treatment processes as they can detect the mixture effects of all bioactive chemicals in a sample. We investigated the treatment efficacy of ten Australian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) covering 42% of the national population over seven consecutive days. Solid-phase extracts of influent and effluent were subjected to an in vitro test battery with six bioassays covering nine endpoints that captured the major modes of action detected in receiving surface waters. WWTP influents and effluents were compared on the basis of population- and flow-normalised effect loads, which provided insights into the biological effects exhibited by the mixture of chemicals before and after treatment. Effect removal efficacy varied between effect endpoints and depended on the treatment process. An ozonation treatment step had the best treatment efficacy, while WWTPs with only primary treatment resulted in poor removal of effects. Effect removal was generally better for estrogenic effects and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor than for inhibition of photosynthesis, which is consistent with the persistence of herbicides causing this effect. Cytotoxicity and oxidative stress response provided a sum parameter of all bioactive chemicals including transformation products and removal was poorer than for specific endpoints except for photosynthesis inhibition. Although more than 500 chemicals were analysed, the detected chemicals explained typically less than 10% of the measured biological effect, apart from algal toxicity, where the majority of the effect could be explained by one dominant herbicide, diuron. Overall, the current study demonstrated the utility of applying bioassays alongside chemical analysis to evaluate loads of chemical pollution reaching WWTPs and treatment efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A. Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia
- QAEHS – Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4102, Australia
- Corresponding author. Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia.
| | - Jake W. O’Brien
- QAEHS – Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4102, Australia
| | - Lisa Glauch
- UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Maria König
- UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin Krauss
- UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jochen F. Mueller
- QAEHS – Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4102, Australia
| | - Ben Tscharke
- QAEHS – Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4102, Australia
| | - Beate I. Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia
- QAEHS – Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4102, Australia
- UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
- Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Centre for Applied Geoscience, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
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23
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Neale PA, Grimaldi M, Boulahtouf A, Leusch FDL, Balaguer P. Assessing species-specific differences for nuclear receptor activation for environmental water extracts. Water Res 2020; 185:116247. [PMID: 32758789 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2020] [Revised: 06/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
In vitro bioassays are increasingly applied to detect endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in environmental waters. Most studies use human nuclear receptor assays, but this raises questions about their relevance for evaluating ecosystem health. The current study aimed to assess species-specific differences in the activation or inhibition of a range of human and zebrafish nuclear receptors by different water extracts. Wastewater and surface water extracts were run in transactivation assays indicative of the estrogen receptor (ER), androgen receptor (AR), glucocorticoid receptor (GR), progesterone receptor (PR), mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), pregnane X receptor (PXR) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). The transactivation assays were complemented with competitive binding assays for human AR, GR, PR and MR. In most cases, both human and zebrafish nuclear receptor activity were detected in the water extracts. Only some species-specific differences in potency and activity were observed. Water extracts were more active in zebrafish PXR compared to human PXR whereas the opposite was observed for PPARγ. Further, all water extracts inhibited zebrafish PR, while only one extract showed weak anti-progestagenic activity for human PR. Due to these observed differences, zebrafish nuclear receptor assays may be preferable over human nuclear receptor assays to assess the potential risks of EDCs to aquatic organisms. However, recognizing issues with availability of zebrafish nuclear receptor assays and the relatively small differences in responsiveness for many of the human and zebrafish nuclear receptors, including the widely studied ER, the current study supports the continued use of human nuclear receptor assays 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.
| | - Marina Grimaldi
- Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM), Inserm U1194, Université Montpellier 1, Institut régional du Cancer de Montpellier (ICM), 34290 Montpellier, France
| | - Abdelhay Boulahtouf
- Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM), Inserm U1194, Université Montpellier 1, Institut régional du Cancer de Montpellier (ICM), 34290 Montpellier, France
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Patrick Balaguer
- Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM), Inserm U1194, Université Montpellier 1, Institut régional du Cancer de Montpellier (ICM), 34290 Montpellier, France
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24
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Neale PA, Braun G, Brack W, Carmona E, Gunold R, König M, Krauss M, Liebmann L, Liess M, Link M, Schäfer RB, Schlichting R, Schreiner VC, Schulze T, Vormeier P, Weisner O, Escher BI. Assessing the Mixture Effects in In Vitro Bioassays of Chemicals Occurring in Small Agricultural Streams during Rain Events. Environ Sci Technol 2020; 54:8280-8290. [PMID: 32501680 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c02235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Rain events may impact the chemical pollution burden in rivers. Forty-four small streams in Germany were profiled during several rain events for the presence of 395 chemicals and five types of mixture effects in in vitro bioassays (cytotoxicity; activation of the estrogen, aryl hydrocarbon, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors; and oxidative stress response). While these streams were selected to cover a wide range of agricultural impacts, in addition to the expected pesticides, wastewater-derived chemicals and chemicals typical for street runoff were detected. The unexpectedly high estrogenic effects in many samples indicated the impact by wastewater or overflow of combined sewer systems. The 128 water samples exhibited a high diversity of chemical and effect patterns, even for different rain events at the same site. The detected 290 chemicals explained only a small fraction (<8%) of the measured effects. The experimental effects of the designed mixtures of detected chemicals that were expected to dominate the mixture effects of detected chemicals were consistent with predictions for concentration addition within a factor of two for 94% of the mixtures. Overall, the burden of chemicals and effects was much higher than that previously detected in surface water during dry weather, with the effects often exceeding proposed effect-based trigger values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Georg Braun
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Werner Brack
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Eric Carmona
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Roman Gunold
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Maria König
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Martin Krauss
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Liana Liebmann
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Matthias Liess
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Moritz Link
- University of Koblenz-Landau, iES - Institute for Environmental Sciences, Mainz 76829, Landau Germany
| | - Ralf B Schäfer
- University of Koblenz-Landau, iES - Institute for Environmental Sciences, Mainz 76829, Landau Germany
| | - Rita Schlichting
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Verena C Schreiner
- University of Koblenz-Landau, iES - Institute for Environmental Sciences, Mainz 76829, Landau Germany
| | - Tobias Schulze
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Philipp Vormeier
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Oliver Weisner
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig 04318, Germany
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25
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Kroon FJ, Berry KLE, Brinkman DL, Kookana R, Leusch FDL, Melvin SD, Neale PA, Negri AP, Puotinen M, Tsang JJ, van de Merwe JP, Williams M. Sources, presence and potential effects of contaminants of emerging concern in the marine environments of the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait, Australia. Sci Total Environ 2020; 719:135140. [PMID: 31859059 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2019] [Revised: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Current policy and management for marine water quality in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in north-eastern Australia primarily focusses on sediment, nutrients and pesticides derived from diffuse source pollution related to agricultural land uses. In addition, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are known to be present in the marine environments of the GBR and the adjacent Torres Strait (TS). Current and projected agricultural, urban and industrial developments are likely to increase the sources and diversity of CECs being released into these marine ecosystems. In this review, we evaluate the sources, presence and potential effects of six different categories of CECs known to be present, or likely to be present, in the GBR and TS marine ecosystems. Specifically, we summarize available monitoring, source and effect information for antifouling paints; coal dust and particles; heavy/trace metals and metalloids; marine debris and microplastics; pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs); and petroleum hydrocarbons. Our study highlights the lack of (available) monitoring data for most of these CECs, and recommends: (i) the inclusion of all relevant environmental data into integrated databases for building marine baselines for the GBR and TS regions, and (ii) the implementation of local, targeted monitoring programs informed by predictive methods for risk prioritization. Further, our spatial representation of the known and likely sources of these CECs will contribute to future ecological risk assessments of CECs to the GBR and TS marine environments, including risks relative to those identified for sediment, nutrients and pesticides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederieke J Kroon
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia.
| | - Kathryn L E Berry
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia; James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia
| | - Diane L Brinkman
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia
| | - Rai Kookana
- CSIRO Land and Water, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Steven D Melvin
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Andrew P Negri
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia
| | - Marji Puotinen
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Jeffrey J Tsang
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Darwin, NT 0811, Australia
| | - Jason P van de Merwe
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
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26
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Neale PA, Branch A, Khan SJ, Leusch FDL. Evaluating the enantiospecific differences of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) using an ecotoxicity bioassay test battery. Sci Total Environ 2019; 694:133659. [PMID: 31386950 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway for pharmaceuticals to the aquatic environment. Many pharmaceuticals, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), are chiral chemicals and the biological activity of their enantiomers can differ. Few studies have assessed the effects of different NSAID enantiomers on non-target organisms. However, this information is important for environmental risk assessment to ensure that the effects of more potent enantiomers are not overlooked. In the current study, enantiomers of naproxen, ibuprofen, ketoprofen and flurbiprofen were evaluated in bioassays with bacteria, algae and fish cells. All enantiomers induced bacterial toxicity, with (R)-naproxen more toxic than (S)-naproxen (EC50 0.75 vs 0.93 mg/L) and (S)-flurbiprofen more toxic than (R)-flurbiprofen (EC50 1.22 vs 2.13 mg/L). Both (R)-flurbiprofen and (S)-flurbiprofen induced photosystem II inhibition in green algae, with (R)-flurbiprofen having a greater effect in the assay after 24 h (EC10 5.47 vs 9.07 mg/L). Only the (R)-enantiomers of flurbiprofen and ketoprofen induced ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in fish cells, while (S)-naproxen was 2.5 times more active than (R)-naproxen in the EROD assay. While enantiospecific differences were observed for all assays, the difference was less than an order of magnitude. This indicates that the risk of overlooking the effect of more potent NSAID enantiomers is minor for the studied test systems and supports the use of racemic (or single enantiomer) effect data for environmental risk assessment. However, further investigation of the (R)-enantiomer of commonly used NSAID ketoprofen is recommended as it was at least six times more potent in the EROD assay than the inactive (S)-ketoprofen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia.
| | - Amos Branch
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
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27
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Leusch FDL, Khan SJ, Deere D, Cunliffe D, Neale PA, Humpage A. Deriving safe short-term chemical exposure values (STEV) for drinking water. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2019; 110:104545. [PMID: 31778715 DOI: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2019.104545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Revised: 11/17/2019] [Accepted: 11/24/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Small and brief exceedances of chemicals above their guideline values in drinking water are unlikely to cause an appreciable increased risk to human health. As a result, short-term exposure values (STEV) can be derived to help decide whether drinking water can still be supplied to consumers without adverse health risks. In this study, three approaches were applied to calculate and compare STEV for pesticides. The three approaches included basing a STEV on the acute reference dose (ARfD) (Approach 1), removing conventional attribution rates and uncertainty factors from current guideline values (Approach 2) and extrapolating 1 d and 7 d no observed adverse effect levels (NOAEL) from existing toxicity data using a log-linear regression (Approach 3). Despite being very different methods, the three approaches produced comparable STEV generally within an order of magnitude, which often overlapped with other existing short-term exposure values such as short-term no adverse response levels (SNARL) and health advisories (HA). The results show that adjusting the current guideline value using standard extrapolation factors (Approach 2) often produced the most conservative values. Approach 2 was then applied to two other chemical classes, disinfection by-products (DBPs) and cyanotoxins, demonstrating the wider applicability of the approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia.
| | - Stuart J Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - David Cunliffe
- Department of Health South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Andrew Humpage
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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28
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Neale PA, Leusch FDL. Assessing the role of different dissolved organic carbon and bromide concentrations for disinfection by-product formation using chemical analysis and bioanalysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2019; 26:17100-17109. [PMID: 31001769 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-05017-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Concerns regarding disinfection by-product (DBP) formation during drinking water treatment have led water utilities to apply treatment processes to reduce the concentration of DBP precursor natural organic matter (NOM). However, these processes often do not remove bromide, leading to high bromide to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) ratios after treatment, which can increase the formation of more toxic brominated DBPs. In the current study, we investigated the formation and effect of DBPs in a matrix of synthetic water samples containing different concentrations of bromide and DOC after disinfection with chlorine. Trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids were analysed by chemical analysis, while effect was evaluated using in vitro bioassays indicative of the oxidative stress response and bacterial toxicity. While the addition of increasing bromide concentrations did not alter the sum molar concentration of DBPs formed, the speciation changed, with greater bromine incorporation with an increasing Br:DOC ratio. However, the observed effect did not correlate with the Br:DOC ratio, but instead, effect increased with increasing DOC concentration. Water samples with low DOC and high bromide did not exceed the available oxidative stress response effect-based trigger value (EBT), while all samples with high DOC, irrespective of the bromide concentration, exceeded the EBT. This suggests that treatment processes that remove NOM can improve drinking water quality, even if they are unable to remove bromide. Further, iceberg modelling showed that detected DBPs only explained a small fraction of the oxidative stress response, supporting the application of both chemical analysis and bioanalysis for monitoring DBP formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia.
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia
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29
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Leusch FDL, Neale PA, Busetti F, Card M, Humpage A, Orbell JD, Ridgway HF, Stewart MB, van de Merwe JP, Escher BI. Transformation of endocrine disrupting chemicals, pharmaceutical and personal care products during drinking water disinfection. Sci Total Environ 2019; 657:1480-1490. [PMID: 30677914 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/08/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are frequently detected in drinking water sources. This raises concerns about the formation of potentially more toxic transformation products (TPs) after drinking water disinfection. This study applied a combination of computational and experimental methods to investigate the biological activity of eight EDCs and PPCPs commonly detected in source waters (acetaminophen, bisphenol A, carbamazepine, estrone, 17α-ethinylestradiol, gemfibrozil, naproxen and triclosan) before and after disinfection. Using a Stepped Forced Molecular Dynamics (SFMD) method, we detected 911 unique TPs, 36% of which have been previously reported in the scientific literature. We calculated the likelihood that TPs would cause damage to biomolecules or DNA relative to the parent compound based on lipophilicity and the occurrence of structural alerts, and applied two Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) tools to predict toxicity via receptor-mediated effects. In parallel, batch experiments were performed with three disinfectants, chlorine, chlorine dioxide and chloramine. After solid-phase extraction, the resulting TP mixtures were analyzed by chemical analysis and a battery of eleven in vitro bioassays covering a variety of endpoints. The laboratory results were in good agreement with the predictions. Overall, the combination of computational and experimental chemistry and toxicity methods used in this study suggest that disinfection of the studied EDCs and PPCPs will produce a large number of TPs, which are unlikely to increase specific toxicity (e.g., endocrine activity), but may result in increased reactive and non-specific toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Francesco Busetti
- Curtin Water Quality Research Centre, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia; School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia
| | - Marcella Card
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), Woolloongabba, Qld 4102, Australia
| | - Andrew Humpage
- Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - John D Orbell
- Institute for Sustainable Industries & Livable Cities (ISILC), College of Engineering & Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
| | | | - Matthew B Stewart
- Institute for Sustainable Industries & Livable Cities (ISILC), College of Engineering & Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
| | - Jason P van de Merwe
- 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, Cell Toxicology, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
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30
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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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31
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Escher BI, Neale PA, Villeneuve DL. The advantages of linear concentration-response curves for in vitro bioassays with environmental samples. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018; 37:2273-2280. [PMID: 29846006 PMCID: PMC6150494 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2018] [Revised: 04/29/2018] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
In vitro assays and high-throughput screening (HTS) tools are increasingly being employed as replacements for animal testing, but most concentration-response curves are still evaluated with models developed for animal testing. We argue that application of in vitro assays, particularly reporter gene assays, to environmental samples can benefit from a different approach to concentration-response modeling. First, cytotoxicity often occurs at higher concentrations, especially for weakly acting compounds and in complex environmental mixtures with many components. In these cases, specific effects can be masked by cytotoxicity. Second, for many HTS assays, low effect levels can be precisely quantified because of the low variability of controls in cell-based assays and the opportunity to run many concentrations and replicates when using high-density well-plate formats (e.g., 384 or more wells per plate). Hence, we recommend focusing concentration-response modeling on the lower portion of the concentration-response curve, which is approximately linear. Effect concentrations derived from low-effect level linear concentration-response models facilitate simple derivation of relative effect potencies and the correct application of mixture toxicity models in the calculation of bioanalytical equivalent concentrations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2273-2280. © 2018 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate I Escher
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
| | - Daniel L Villeneuve
- Mid-Continent Ecology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, Minnesota
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Leusch FDL, Neale PA, Arnal C, Aneck-Hahn NH, Balaguer P, Bruchet A, Escher BI, Esperanza M, Grimaldi M, Leroy G, Scheurer M, Schlichting R, Schriks M, Hebert A. Analysis of endocrine activity in drinking water, surface water and treated wastewater from six countries. Water Res 2018; 139:10-18. [PMID: 29621713 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.03.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Revised: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/23/2018] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The aquatic environment can contain numerous micropollutants and there are concerns about endocrine activity in environmental waters and the potential impacts on human and ecosystem health. In this study a complementary chemical analysis and in vitro bioassay approach was applied to evaluate endocrine activity in treated wastewater, surface water and drinking water samples from six countries (Germany, Australia, France, South Africa, the Netherlands and Spain). The bioassay test battery included assays indicative of seven endocrine pathways, while 58 different chemicals, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial compounds, were analysed by targeted chemical analysis. Endocrine activity was below the limit of quantification for most water samples, with only two of six treated wastewater samples and two of six surface water samples exhibiting estrogenic, glucocorticoid, progestagenic and/or anti-mineralocorticoid activity above the limit of quantification. Based on available effect-based trigger values (EBT) for estrogenic and glucocorticoid activity, some of the wastewater and surface water samples were found to exceed the EBT, suggesting these environmental waters may pose a potential risk to ecosystem health. In contrast, the lack of bioassay activity and low detected chemical concentrations in the drinking water samples do not suggest a risk to human endocrine health, with all samples below the relevant EBTs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport QLD 4222, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Charlotte Arnal
- Veolia Research & Innovation, 78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France
| | - Natalie H Aneck-Hahn
- Environmental Chemical Pollution and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Patrick Balaguer
- Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier, INSERM/Université de Montpellier, 34298 Montpellier, France
| | - Auguste Bruchet
- CIRSEE (Centre International de Recherche Sur l'Eau et l'Environnement) - Suez Environnement, 78230 Le Pecq, France
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport QLD 4222, Australia; UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Mar Esperanza
- CIRSEE (Centre International de Recherche Sur l'Eau et l'Environnement) - Suez Environnement, 78230 Le Pecq, France
| | - Marina Grimaldi
- Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier, INSERM/Université de Montpellier, 34298 Montpellier, France
| | - Gaela Leroy
- Veolia Research & Innovation, 78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France
| | - Marco Scheurer
- DVGW - Technologiezentrum Wasser, Karlsruher Str.84, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Rita Schlichting
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Merijn Schriks
- KWR Watercycle Research Institute, 3433 PE Nieuwegein, The Netherlands; Vitens drinking water company, 8019 BE Zwolle, The Netherlands
| | - Armelle Hebert
- Veolia Research & Innovation, 78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France
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33
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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. Sci Total Environ 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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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van de Merwe JP, Neale PA, Melvin SD, Leusch FDL. In vitro bioassays reveal that additives are significant contributors to the toxicity of commercial household pesticides. Aquat Toxicol 2018; 199:263-268. [PMID: 29677588 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2018.03.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2017] [Revised: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Pesticides commonly used around households can contain additives of unknown concentrations and toxicity. Given the likelihood of these chemicals washing into urban waterways, it is important to understand the effects that these additives may have on aquatic organisms. The aim of this study was to compare the toxicity of commercially available household pesticides to that of the active ingredient(s) alone. The toxicity of five household pesticides (three herbicides and two insecticides) was investigated using a bacterial cytotoxicity bioassay and an algal photosynthesis bioassay. The commercial products were up to an order of magnitude more toxic than the active ingredient(s) alone. In addition, two commercial products with the same listed active ingredients in the same ratio had a 600× difference in potency. These results clearly demonstrate that additives in commercial formulations are significant contributors to the toxicity of household pesticides. The toxicity of pesticides in aquatic systems is therefore likely underestimated by conventional chemical monitoring and risk assessment when only the active ingredients are considered. Regulators and customers should require more clarity from pesticide manufacturers about the nature and concentrations of not only the active ingredients, but also additives used in commercial formulations. In addition, monitoring programmes and chemical risk assessments schemes should develop a structured approach to assessing the toxic effects of commercial formulations, including additives, rather than simply those of the listed active ingredients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason P van de Merwe
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Qld 4222, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Steven D Melvin
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Qld 4222, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Qld 4222, Australia
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35
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Ziajahromi S, Kumar A, Neale PA, Leusch FDL. Environmentally relevant concentrations of polyethylene microplastics negatively impact the survival, growth and emergence of sediment-dwelling invertebrates. Environ Pollut 2018; 236:425-431. [PMID: 29414367 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.01.094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 153] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2017] [Revised: 01/11/2018] [Accepted: 01/28/2018] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Microplastics are a widespread environmental pollutant in aquatic ecosystems and have the potential to eventually sink to the sediment, where they may pose a risk to sediment-dwelling organisms. While the impacts of exposure to microplastics have been widely reported for marine biota, the effects of microplastics on freshwater organisms at environmentally realistic concentrations are largely unknown, especially for benthic organisms. Here we examined the effects of a realistic concentration of polyethylene microplastics in sediment on the growth and emergence of a freshwater organism Chironomus tepperi. We also assessed the influence of microplastic size by exposing C. tepperi larvae to four different size ranges of polyethylene microplastics (1-4, 10-27, 43-54 and 100-126 μm). Exposure to an environmentally relevant concentration of microplastics, 500 particles/kgsediment, negatively affected the survival, growth (i.e. body length and head capsule) and emergence of C. tepperi. The observed effects were strongly dependent on microplastic size with exposure to particles in the size range of 10-27 μm inducing more pronounced effects. While growth and survival of C. tepperi were not affected by the larger microplastics (100-126 μm), a significant reduction in the number of emerged adults was observed after exposure to the largest microplastics, with the delayed emergence attributed to exposure to a stressor. While scanning electron microscopy showed a significant reduction in the size of the head capsule and antenna of C. tepperi exposed to microplastics in the 10-27 μm size range, no deformities to the external structure of the antenna and mouth parts in organisms exposed to the same size range of microplastics were observed. These results indicate that environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastics in sediment induce harmful effects on the development and emergence of C. tepperi, with effects greatly dependent on particle size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute and School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia.
| | - Anupama Kumar
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Waite Road, Urrbrae 5064, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute and School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute and School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
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Altenburger R, Scholze M, Busch W, Escher BI, Jakobs G, Krauss M, Krüger J, Neale PA, Ait-Aissa S, Almeida AC, Seiler TB, Brion F, Hilscherová K, Hollert H, Novák J, Schlichting R, Serra H, Shao Y, Tindall A, Tollefsen KE, Umbuzeiro G, Williams TD, Kortenkamp A. Mixture effects in samples of multiple contaminants - An inter-laboratory study with manifold bioassays. Environ Int 2018; 114:95-106. [PMID: 29499452 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.02.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Revised: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2018] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Chemicals in the environment occur in mixtures rather than as individual entities. Environmental quality monitoring thus faces the challenge to comprehensively assess a multitude of contaminants and potential adverse effects. Effect-based methods have been suggested as complements to chemical analytical characterisation of complex pollution patterns. The regularly observed discrepancy between chemical and biological assessments of adverse effects due to contaminants in the field may be either due to unidentified contaminants or result from interactions of compounds in mixtures. Here, we present an interlaboratory study where individual compounds and their mixtures were investigated by extensive concentration-effect analysis using 19 different bioassays. The assay panel consisted of 5 whole organism assays measuring apical effects and 14 cell- and organism-based bioassays with more specific effect observations. Twelve organic water pollutants of diverse structure and unique known modes of action were studied individually and as mixtures mirroring exposure scenarios in freshwaters. We compared the observed mixture effects against component-based mixture effect predictions derived from additivity expectations (assumption of non-interaction). Most of the assays detected the mixture response of the active components as predicted even against a background of other inactive contaminants. When none of the mixture components showed any activity by themselves then the mixture also was without effects. The mixture effects observed using apical endpoints fell in the middle of a prediction window defined by the additivity predictions for concentration addition and independent action, reflecting well the diversity of the anticipated modes of action. In one case, an unexpectedly reduced solubility of one of the mixture components led to mixture responses that fell short of the predictions of both additivity mixture models. The majority of the specific cell- and organism-based endpoints produced mixture responses in agreement with the additivity expectation of concentration addition. Exceptionally, expected (additive) mixture response did not occur due to masking effects such as general toxicity from other compounds. Generally, deviations from an additivity expectation could be explained due to experimental factors, specific limitations of the effect endpoint or masking side effects such as cytotoxicity in in vitro assays. The majority of bioassays were able to quantitatively detect the predicted non-interactive, additive combined effect of the specifically bioactive compounds against a background of complex mixture of other chemicals in the sample. This supports the use of a combination of chemical and bioanalytical monitoring tools for the identification of chemicals that drive a specific mixture effect. Furthermore, we demonstrated that a panel of bioassays can provide a diverse profile of effect responses to a complex contaminated sample. This could be extended towards representing mixture adverse outcome pathways. Our findings support the ongoing development of bioanalytical tools for (i) compiling comprehensive effect-based batteries for water quality assessment, (ii) designing tailored surveillance methods to safeguard specific water uses, and (iii) devising strategies for effect-based diagnosis of complex contamination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rolf Altenburger
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
| | - Martin Scholze
- Institute for the Environment, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH, United Kingdom
| | - Wibke Busch
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geoscience, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Gianina Jakobs
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin Krauss
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Janet Krüger
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Selim Ait-Aissa
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Ana Catarina Almeida
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research NIVA, Gaustadalléen 21, N-0349 Oslo, Norway
| | | | - François Brion
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Klára Hilscherová
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Henner Hollert
- Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Jiří Novák
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Rita Schlichting
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hélène Serra
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Ying Shao
- Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Andrew Tindall
- WatchFrog, Bâtiment Genavenir 3, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 91000 Evry, France
| | - Knut Erik Tollefsen
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research NIVA, Gaustadalléen 21, N-0349 Oslo, Norway
| | - Gisela Umbuzeiro
- Faculdade de Tecnologia, FT-UNICAMP, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Limeira, SP 13484-332, Brazil
| | - Tim D Williams
- School of Biosciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Kortenkamp
- Institute for the Environment, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH, United Kingdom
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Hebert A, Feliers C, Lecarpentier C, Neale PA, Schlichting R, Thibert S, Escher BI. Bioanalytical assessment of adaptive stress responses in drinking water: A predictive tool to differentiate between micropollutants and disinfection by-products. Water Res 2018; 132:340-349. [PMID: 29353197 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.12.078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2017] [Revised: 11/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/29/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Drinking water can contain low levels of micropollutants, as well as disinfection by-products (DBPs) that form from the reaction of disinfectants with organic and inorganic matter in water. Due to the complex mixture of trace chemicals in drinking water, targeted chemical analysis alone is not sufficient for monitoring. The current study aimed to apply in vitro bioassays indicative of adaptive stress responses to monitor the toxicological profiles and the formation of DBPs in three drinking water distribution systems in France. Bioanalysis was complemented with chemical analysis of forty DBPs. All water samples were active in the oxidative stress response assay, but only after considerable sample enrichment. As both micropollutants in source water and DBPs formed during treatment can contribute to the effect, the bioanalytical equivalent concentration (BEQ) approach was applied for the first time to determine the contribution of DBPs, with DBPs found to contribute between 17 and 58% of the oxidative stress response. Further, the BEQ approach was also used to assess the contribution of volatile DBPs to the observed effect, with detected volatile DBPs found to have only a minor contribution as compared to the measured effects of the non-volatile chemicals enriched by solid-phase extraction. The observed effects in the distribution systems were below any level of concern, quantifiable only at high enrichment and not different from bottled mineral water. Integrating bioanalytical tools and the BEQ mixture model for monitoring drinking water quality is an additional assurance that chemical monitoring is not overlooking any unknown chemicals or transformation products and can help to ensure chemically safe drinking water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armelle Hebert
- Veolia Research & Innovation, 78600 Maisons-Laffitte, France
| | - Cedric Feliers
- Veolia Eau d'Ile de France, Le Vermont, 28 Boulevard de Pesaro, TSA 31197, 92739 Nanterre, France
| | - Caroline Lecarpentier
- Veolia Eau d'Ile de France, Le Vermont, 28 Boulevard de Pesaro, TSA 31197, 92739 Nanterre, France
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Rita Schlichting
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sylvie Thibert
- Syndicat des Eaux D'Ile-de-France (SEDIF), 14 Rue Saint-Benoît, 75006 Paris, France
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Environmental Toxicology, Center for Applied Geosciences, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
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Scott PD, Coleman HM, Khan S, Lim R, McDonald JA, Mondon J, Neale PA, Prochazka E, Tremblay LA, Warne MSJ, Leusch FDL. Histopathology, vitellogenin and chemical body burden in mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) sampled from six river sites receiving a gradient of stressors. Sci Total Environ 2018; 616-617:1638-1648. [PMID: 29079092 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2017] [Revised: 09/25/2017] [Accepted: 10/14/2017] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
There are over 40,000 chemical compounds registered for use in Australia, and only a handful are monitored in the aquatic receiving environments. Their effects on fish species in Australia are largely unknown. Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) were sampled from six river sites in Southeast Queensland identified as at risk from a range of pollutants. The sites selected were downstream of a wastewater treatment plant discharge, a landfill, two agricultural areas, and two sites in undeveloped reaches within or downstream of protected lands (national parks). Vitellogenin analysis, histopathology of liver, kidney and gonads, morphology of the gonopodium, and chemical body burden were measured to characterize fish health. Concentrations of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) in water were analyzed by in vitro bioassays and chemical analysis. Estrogenic, anti-estrogenic, anti-androgenic, progestagenic and anti-progestagenic activities and TrOCs were detected in multiple water samples. Several active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), industrial compounds, pesticides and other endocrine active compounds were detected in fish carcasses at all sites, ranging from <4-4700ng/g wet weight, including the two undeveloped sites. While vitellogenin protein was slightly increased in fish from two of the six sites, the presence of micropollutants did not cause overt sexual endocrine disruption in mosquitofish (i.e., no abnormal gonads or gonopodia). A correlation between lipid accumulation in the liver with total body burden warrants further investigation to determine if exposure to low concentrations of TrOCs can affect fish health and increase stress on organs such as the liver and kidneys via other mechanisms, including disruption of non-sexual endocrine axes involved in lipid regulation and metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip D Scott
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Heather M Coleman
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Stuart Khan
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Richard Lim
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Julie Mondon
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Victoria 3280, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Erik Prochazka
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Louis A Tremblay
- Cawthron Institute, 98 Halifax St. East, Nelson 7042, New Zealand; School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, PO Box 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
| | - Michael St J Warne
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia; Water Quality and Investigations, Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation, Queensland Government, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia.
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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. Environ Sci Process 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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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Ziajahromi S, Kumar A, Neale PA, Leusch FDL. Impact of Microplastic Beads and Fibers on Waterflea (Ceriodaphnia dubia) Survival, Growth, and Reproduction: Implications of Single and Mixture Exposures. Environ Sci Technol 2017; 51:13397-13406. [PMID: 29059522 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b03574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 221] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
There is limited knowledge regarding the adverse effects of wastewater-derived microplastics, particularly fibers, on aquatic biota. In this study, we examined the acute (48 h) and chronic (8 d) effects of microplastic polyester fibers and polyethylene (PE) beads on freshwater zooplankton Ceriodaphnia dubia. We also assessed the acute response of C. dubia to a binary mixture of microplastic beads and fibers for the first time. Acute exposure to fibers and PE beads both showed a dose-dependent effect on survival. An equitoxic binary mixture of beads and fibers resulted in a toxic unit of 1.85 indicating less than additive effects. Chronic exposure to lower concentrations did not significantly affect survival of C. dubia, but a dose-dependent effect on growth and reproduction was observed. Fibers showed greater adverse effects than PE beads. While ingestion of fibers was not observed, scanning electron microscopy showed carapace and antenna deformities after exposure to fibers, with no deformities observed after exposure to PE beads. While much of the current research has focused on microplastic beads, our study shows that microplastic fibers pose a greater risk to C. dubia, with reduced reproductive output observed at concentrations within an order of magnitude of reported environmental levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University , Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Anupama Kumar
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation , Waite Road, Urrbrae, South Australia 5064, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University , Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University , Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia
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Neale PA, Altenburger R, Aït-Aïssa S, Brion F, Busch W, de Aragão Umbuzeiro G, Denison MS, Du Pasquier D, Hilscherová K, Hollert H, Morales DA, Novák J, Schlichting R, Seiler TB, Serra H, Shao Y, Tindall AJ, Tollefsen KE, Williams TD, Escher BI. Development of a bioanalytical test battery for water quality monitoring: Fingerprinting identified micropollutants and their contribution to effects in surface water. Water Res 2017; 123:734-750. [PMID: 28728110 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Revised: 06/04/2017] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Surface waters can contain a diverse range of organic pollutants, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial compounds. While bioassays have been used for water quality monitoring, there is limited knowledge regarding the effects of individual micropollutants and their relationship to the overall mixture effect in water samples. In this study, a battery of in vitro bioassays based on human and fish cell lines and whole organism assays using bacteria, algae, daphnids and fish embryos was assembled for use in water quality monitoring. The selection of bioassays was guided by the principles of adverse outcome pathways in order to cover relevant steps in toxicity pathways known to be triggered by environmental water samples. The effects of 34 water pollutants, which were selected based on hazard quotients, available environmental quality standards and mode of action information, were fingerprinted in the bioassay test battery. There was a relatively good agreement between the experimental results and available literature effect data. The majority of the chemicals were active in the assays indicative of apical effects, while fewer chemicals had a response in the specific reporter gene assays, but these effects were typically triggered at lower concentrations. The single chemical effect data were used to improve published mixture toxicity modeling of water samples from the Danube River. While there was a slight increase in the fraction of the bioanalytical equivalents explained for the Danube River samples, for some endpoints less than 1% of the observed effect could be explained by the studied chemicals. The new mixture models essentially confirmed previous findings from many studies monitoring water quality using both chemical analysis and bioanalytical tools. In short, our results indicate that many more chemicals contribute to the biological effect than those that are typically quantified by chemical monitoring programs or those regulated by environmental quality standards. This study not only demonstrates the utility of fingerprinting single chemicals for an improved understanding of the biological effect of pollutants, but also highlights the need to apply bioassays for water quality monitoring in order to prevent underestimation of the overall biological effect.
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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
| | - Rolf Altenburger
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Selim Aït-Aïssa
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - 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
| | | | - Michael S Denison
- Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, United States
| | - David Du Pasquier
- WatchFrog, Bâtiment Genavenir 3, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 91000 Evry, France
| | - Klára Hilscherová
- Masaryk University, 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
| | - Daniel A Morales
- School of Technology, University of Campinas, Limeira, SP, 13484-332, Brazil
| | - Jiří Novák
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Rita Schlichting
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas-Benjamin Seiler
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Helene Serra
- Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques INERIS, Unité d'Ecotoxicologie, 60550, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France
| | - Ying Shao
- Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Andrew J Tindall
- WatchFrog, Bâtiment Genavenir 3, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 91000 Evry, France
| | - Knut Erik Tollefsen
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research NIVA, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway
| | - Timothy D Williams
- School of Biosciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Beate I Escher
- 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.
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Neale PA, Achard MES, Escher BI, Leusch FDL. Exploring the oxidative stress response mechanism triggered by environmental water samples. Environ Sci Process Impacts 2017; 19:1126-1133. [PMID: 28009908 DOI: 10.1039/c6em00541a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Environmental waters can contain a wide range of micropollutants. Bioanalytical test batteries using assays indicative of different stages of cellular toxicity pathways, such as adaptive stress responses, have been applied to a range of water samples. Oxidative stress response assays have proven to be sensitive tools, but the mechanism by which water samples are inducing the oxidative stress response remains unclear because both electrophiles and reactive oxygen species (ROS) may activate the Nrf2-antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway. The current study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms of the oxidative stress response triggered by exposure to surface water extracts previously shown to be active in the ARE GeneBLAzer oxidative stress response assay. ROS formation and changes in glutathione (GSH) concentration were assessed in human liver cells exposed to water extracts from a large river in addition to individual chemicals that were detected in these water extracts and reported to be active in the ARE GeneBLAzer assay in a previous study. Many of the surface water samples induced ROS formation and decreased the GSH to glutathione disulfide (GSSG) ratio, suggesting that the formation of ROS is an important mechanism. However, some of the most responsive samples in the ARE GeneBLAzer assay, as well as the individual chemicals, did not have a significant effect on either ROS formation or the GSH/GSSG ratio, suggesting a different mechanism. Antioxidants can also induce the Nrf2-ARE pathway and the ARE GeneBLAzer assay may also detect compounds that activate ARE by Nrf2-independent mechanisms, thus further research is required to characterise active chemicals in oxidative stress response assays. However, these tests are still useful for quantifying the integrated cellular response to multiple molecular initiating events and can be used complementary to assays indicative of specific effects, such as receptor-mediated assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia.
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Ziajahromi S, Neale PA, Rintoul L, Leusch FDL. Wastewater treatment plants as a pathway for microplastics: Development of a new approach to sample wastewater-based microplastics. Water Res 2017; 112:93-99. [PMID: 28160700 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.01.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 533] [Impact Index Per Article: 76.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2016] [Revised: 01/18/2017] [Accepted: 01/20/2017] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater effluent is expected to be a pathway for microplastics to enter the aquatic environment, with microbeads from cosmetic products and polymer fibres from clothes likely to enter wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). To date, few studies have quantified microplastics in wastewater. Moreover, the lack of a standardized and applicable method to identify microplastics in complex samples, such as wastewater, has limited the accurate assessment of microplastics and may lead to an incorrect estimation. This study aimed to develop a validated method to sample and process microplastics from wastewater effluent and to apply the developed method to quantify and characterise wastewater-based microplastics in effluent from three WWTPs that use primary, secondary and tertiary treatment processes. We applied a high-volume sampling device that fractionated microplastics in situ and an efficient sample processing procedure to improve the sampling of microplastics in wastewater and to minimize the false detection of non-plastic particles. The sampling device captured between 92% and 99% of polystyrene microplastics using 25 μm-500 μm mesh screens in laboratory tests. Microplastic type, size and suspected origin in all studied WWTPs, along with the removal efficiency during the secondary and tertiary treatment stages, was investigated. Suspected microplastics were characterised using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, with between 22 and 90% of the suspected microplastics found to be non-plastic particles. An average of 0.28, 0.48 and 1.54 microplastics per litre of final effluent was found in tertiary, secondary and primary treated effluent, respectively. This study suggests that although low concentrations of microplastics are detected in wastewater effluent, WWTPs still have the potential to act as a pathway to release microplastics given the large volumes of effluent discharged to the aquatic environment. This study focused on a single sampling campaign, with long-term monitoring recommended to further characterise microplastics in wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shima Ziajahromi
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Llew Rintoul
- School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
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Scott PD, Coleman HM, Colville A, Lim R, Matthews B, McDonald JA, Miranda A, Neale PA, Nugegoda D, Tremblay LA, Leusch FDL. Assessing the potential for trace organic contaminants commonly found in Australian rivers to induce vitellogenin in the native rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis) and the introduced mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). Aquat Toxicol 2017; 185:105-120. [PMID: 28208107 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2017.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2016] [Revised: 01/31/2017] [Accepted: 02/06/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
In Australia, trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) and endocrine active compounds (EACs) have been detected in rivers impacted by sewage effluent, urban stormwater, agricultural and industrial inputs. It is unclear whether these chemicals are at concentrations that can elicit endocrine disruption in Australian fish species. In this study, native rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis) and introduced invasive (but prevalent) mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) were exposed to the individual compounds atrazine, estrone, bisphenol A, propylparaben and pyrimethanil, and mixtures of compounds including hormones and personal care products, industrial compounds, and pesticides at environmentally relevant concentrations. Vitellogenin (Vtg) protein and liver Vtg mRNA induction were used to assess the estrogenic potential of these compounds. Vtg expression was significantly affected in both species exposed to estrone at concentrations that leave little margin for safety (p<0.001). Propylparaben caused a small but statistically significant 3× increase in Vtg protein levels (p=0.035) in rainbowfish but at a concentration 40× higher than that measured in the environment, therefore propylparaben poses a low risk of inducing endocrine disruption in fish. Mixtures of pesticides and a mixture of hormones, pharmaceuticals, industrial compounds and pesticides induced a small but statistically significant increase in plasma Vtg in rainbowfish, but did not affect mosquitofish Vtg protein or mRNA expression. These results suggest that estrogenic activity represents a low risk to fish in most Australian rivers monitored to-date except for some species of fish at the most polluted sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip D Scott
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, 4222, Australia
| | - Heather M Coleman
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, Ulster University, Coleraine, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
| | - Anne Colville
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales, 2007, Australia
| | - Richard Lim
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales, 2007, Australia
| | - Benjamin Matthews
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, 4222, Australia
| | - James A McDonald
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
| | - Ana Miranda
- School of Applied Sciences, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, PO Box 71, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, 4222, Australia
| | - Dayanthi Nugegoda
- School of Applied Sciences, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, PO Box 71, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
| | - Louis A Tremblay
- Cawthron Institute, 98 Halifax St. East, Nelson 7042, New Zealand; School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, PO Box 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, 4222, Australia.
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Neale PA, Leusch FDL, Escher BI. Applying mixture toxicity modelling to predict bacterial bioluminescence inhibition by non-specifically acting pharmaceuticals and specifically acting antibiotics. Chemosphere 2017; 173:387-394. [PMID: 28129616 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.01.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2016] [Revised: 12/23/2016] [Accepted: 01/03/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Pharmaceuticals and antibiotics co-occur in the aquatic environment but mixture studies to date have mainly focused on pharmaceuticals alone or antibiotics alone, although differences in mode of action may lead to different effects in mixtures. In this study we used the Bacterial Luminescence Toxicity Screen (BLT-Screen) after acute (0.5 h) and chronic (16 h) exposure to evaluate how non-specifically acting pharmaceuticals and specifically acting antibiotics act together in mixtures. Three models were applied to predict mixture toxicity including concentration addition, independent action and the two-step prediction (TSP) model, which groups similarly acting chemicals together using concentration addition, followed by independent action to combine the two groups. All non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals had similar EC50 values at both 0.5 and 16 h, indicating together with a QSAR (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship) analysis that they act as baseline toxicants. In contrast, the antibiotics' EC50 values decreased by up to three orders of magnitude after 16 h, which can be explained by their specific effect on bacteria. Equipotent mixtures of non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals only, antibiotics only and both non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals and antibiotics were prepared based on the single chemical results. The mixture toxicity models were all in close agreement with the experimental results, with predicted EC50 values within a factor of two of the experimental results. This suggests that concentration addition can be applied to bacterial assays to model the mixture effects of environmental samples containing both specifically and non-specifically acting chemicals.
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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
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, 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 Geoscience, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
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Leusch FDL, Neale PA, Hebert A, Scheurer M, Schriks MCM. Analysis of the sensitivity of in vitro bioassays for androgenic, progestagenic, glucocorticoid, thyroid and estrogenic activity: Suitability for drinking and environmental waters. Environ Int 2017; 99:120-130. [PMID: 28017361 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2016.12.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2016] [Revised: 12/13/2016] [Accepted: 12/15/2016] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
The presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the aquatic environment poses a risk for ecosystem health. Consequently there is a need for sensitive tools, such as in vitro bioassays, to monitor endocrine activity in environmental waters. The aim of the current study was to assess whether current in vitro bioassays are suitable to detect endocrine activity in a range of water types. The reviewed assays included androgenic (n=11), progestagenic (n=6), glucocorticoid (n=5), thyroid (n=5) and estrogenic (n=8) activity in both agonist and antagonist mode. Existing in vitro bioassay data were re-evaluated to determine assay sensitivity, with the calculated method detection limit compared with measured hormonal activity in treated wastewater, surface water and drinking water to quantify whether the studied assays were sufficiently sensitive for environmental samples. With typical sample enrichment, current in vitro bioassays are sufficiently sensitive to detect androgenic activity in treated wastewater and surface water, with anti-androgenic activity able to be detected in most environmental waters. Similarly, with sufficient enrichment, the studied mammalian assays are able to detect estrogenic activity even in drinking water samples. Fewer studies have focused on progestagenic and glucocorticoid activity, but some of the reviewed bioassays are suitable for detecting activity in treated wastewater and surface water. Even less is known about (anti)thyroid activity, but the available data suggests that the more sensitive reviewed bioassays are still unlikely to detect this type of activity in environmental waters. The findings of this review can help provide guidance on in vitro bioassay selection and required sample enrichment for optimised detection of endocrine activity in environmental waters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic D L Leusch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld, 4222, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld, 4222, Australia
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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. Sci Total Environ 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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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49
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König M, Escher BI, Neale PA, Krauss M, Hilscherová K, Novák J, Teodorović I, Schulze T, Seidensticker S, Kamal Hashmi MA, Ahlheim J, Brack W. Impact of untreated wastewater on a major European river evaluated with a combination of in vitro bioassays and chemical analysis. Environ Pollut 2017; 220:1220-1230. [PMID: 27884472 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2016] [Revised: 10/19/2016] [Accepted: 11/05/2016] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Complex mixtures of micropollutants, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals emitted by wastewater effluents to European rivers may compromise the quality of these water resources and may pose a risk to ecosystem health and abstraction of drinking water. In the present study, an integrated analytical and bioanalytical approach was applied to investigate the impact of untreated wastewater effluents from the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, into the River Danube. The study was based on three on-site large volume solid phase extracted water samples collected upstream and downstream of the untreated wastewater discharge. Chemical screening with liquid chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) was applied together with a battery of in vitro cell-based bioassays covering important steps of the cellular toxicity pathway to evaluate effects on the activation of metabolism (arylhydrocarbon receptor AhR, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma PPARγ), specific modes of action (estrogen receptor ERα, androgen receptor AR) and adaptive stress responses (oxidative stress, inflammation). Increased effects, significantly changed contamination patterns and higher chemical concentrations were observed downstream of the wastewater discharge. A mass balance approach showed that enhanced endocrine disruption was in good agreement with concentrations of detected hormones, while only a smaller fraction of the effects on xenobiotic metabolism (<1%) and adaptive stress responses (0-12%) could be explained by the detected chemicals. The chemical and effects patterns observed upstream of the discharge point were fairly re-established at about 7 km downstream, demonstrating the enormous dilution capacity of this large river.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria König
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Effect-Directed Analysis, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beate I Escher
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, 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; The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia.
| | - Peta A Neale
- Australian Rivers Institute, School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Martin Krauss
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Effect-Directed Analysis, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Klára Hilscherová
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czechia
| | - Jiří Novák
- Masaryk University, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 62500 Brno, Czechia
| | - Ivana Teodorović
- University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Trg Dositeja Obradovica 2, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Tobias Schulze
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Effect-Directed Analysis, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sven Seidensticker
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Effect-Directed Analysis, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Aachen, Germany
| | | | - Jörg Ahlheim
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Effect-Directed Analysis, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Werner Brack
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Effect-Directed Analysis, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Aachen, Germany
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50
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Ziajahromi S, Neale PA, Leusch FDL. Wastewater treatment plant effluent as a source of microplastics: review of the fate, chemical interactions and potential risks to aquatic organisms. Water Sci Technol 2016; 74:2253-2269. [PMID: 27858783 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2016.414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 143] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent has been identified as a potential source of microplastics in the aquatic environment. Microplastics have recently been detected in wastewater effluent in Western Europe, Russia and the USA. As there are only a handful of studies on microplastics in wastewater, it is difficult to accurately determine the contribution of wastewater effluent as a source of microplastics. However, even the small amounts of microplastics detected in wastewater effluent may be a remarkable source given the large volumes of wastewater treatment effluent discharged to the aquatic environment annually. Further, there is strong evidence that microplastics can interact with wastewater-associated contaminants, which has the potential to transport chemicals to aquatic organisms after exposure to contaminated microplastics. In this review we apply lessons learned from the literature on microplastics in the aquatic environment and knowledge on current wastewater treatment technologies, with the aim of identifying the research gaps in terms of (i) the fate of microplastics in WWTPs, (ii) the potential interaction of wastewater-based microplastics with trace organic contaminants and metals, and (iii) the risk for aquatic organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shima Ziajahromi
- Smart Water Research Centre, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia E-mail:
| | - Peta A Neale
- Smart Water Research Centre, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia E-mail:
| | - Frederic D L Leusch
- Smart Water Research Centre, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia E-mail:
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