Communities of zooplankton can be adversely affected by contamination resulting from human activities. Yet understanding the influence of water quality on zooplankton under field-conditions is hindered by traditional labor-intensive approaches that are prone to incomplete or uncertain taxonomic determinations. Here, for the first time, an eco-genomic approach, based on genetic diversity in the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) region of DNA of zooplankton was used to develop a site-specific, water quality criterion (WQC) for ammonia (NH). Ammonia has been recognized as a primary stressor in the catchment of the large, eutrophic Tai Lake, China. Nutrients, especially NH and nitrite (NO) had more significant effects on structure of the zooplankton community than did other environmental factors. Abundances of rotifers increased along a gradient of increasing concentrations of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), while abundances of copepods and cladocera decreased. A novel, rapid, species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approach based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was established to develop a WQC for NH. The WQC based on OTUs was consistent with the WQC based on the traditional morphology taxonomy approach. This genetics-based SSD approach could be a useful tool for monitoring for status and trends in species composition and deriving ecological criteria and an efficient biomonitoring tool to protect local aquatic ecosystems in virtually any aquatic ecosystem.

Pollution represents a leading threat to global health and ecosystems. Systems-based initiatives, including Planetary Health, EcoHealth, and One Health, require theoretical and translational platforms to address chemical pollution. Comparative and predictive toxicology are providing integrative approaches for identifying problematic contaminants, designing less hazardous alternatives, and reducing the impacts of chemical pollution.

Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in ten water samples (four pairs of tap water with source water and two additional tap water) were analyzed and a US EPA algorithm was used to estimate their associated human health risks. Organochlorine pesticides were found in most samples analyzed. Concentrations of total PAHs ranged from 4.8 to 84.4 and 0.7 to 53.8 ng/l, for source and tap water, respectively. Carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risk assessments were employed for various trace organic pollutants in the tap water. The results indicated that carcinogenic risk for male and female lifetime of tap water from XuZh (XZ) city was higher than the others. XZ located in the northern part of Jiangsu province, which takes ground water as the water source. Children were more vulnerable to the carcinogenic chemicals than adults. Carcinogenic risks for male children (0-14 years old) in XZ were the highest, reaching 3.68 × 10(-6). Contribution analysis showed that dibenz[a,h]anthracene contributed most to the carcinogenic risk in XZ city, and α-HCH, β-HCH and γ-HCH posed the most carcinogenic risk in tap water from GoHu (GH) in Eastern Taihu Lake. Additionally, noncarcinogenic risks posed by the detected chemicals to local people were negligible. Risk alleviation strategies should be adopted, taking into account the results of these health risk assessments.