A tiered, integrated biological and chemical monitoring framework for contaminants of emerging concern in aquatic ecosystems

Abstract

The chemical-specific risk-based paradigm that informs monitoring and assessment of environmental contaminants does not apply well to the many thousands of new chemicals that are being introduced into ambient receiving waters. We propose a tiered framework that incorporates bioanalytical screening tools and diagnostic nontargeted chemical analysis to more effectively monitor for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). The framework is based on a comprehensive battery of in vitro bioassays to first screen for a broad spectrum of CECs and nontargeted analytical methods to identify bioactive contaminants missed by the currently favored targeted analyses. Water quality managers in California have embraced this strategy with plans to further develop and test this framework in regional and statewide pilot studies on waterbodies that receive discharge from municipal wastewater treatment plants and stormwater runoff. In addition to directly informing decisions, the data obtained using this framework can be used to construct and validate models that better predict CEC occurrence and toxicity. The adaptive interplay among screening results, diagnostic assessment and predictive modeling will allow managers to make decisions based on the most current and relevant information, instead of extrapolating from parameters with questionable linkage to CEC impacts. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:540-547. © 2015 SETAC.

Hydrophilic trace organic contaminants in urban stormwater: occurrence, toxicological relevance, and the need to enhance green stormwater infrastructure

“…131 The traditional approach to combine in vivo toxicity testings with target chemical analyses of stormwater is, however, not well suited to reveal and monitor the toxicity of rapidly changing chemical mixtures in stormwater runoff. [132][133][134] Little is known about the toxicity of complex chemical mixtures that may exert synergistic or additive effects, which complicates the identification of toxicants and their role in observed toxicity. 113,121 Recently, cell-based (in vitro) high-throughput screening assays have been developed as effect-based method for water monitoring.…”

Development of a bioanalytical test battery for water quality monitoring: Fingerprinting identified micropollutants and their contribution to effects in surface water

“…The EU Project SOLUTIONS proposes to connect both approaches and employ bioassays for water quality monitoring whilst linking them to chemical assessment (Altenburger et al 2015). Cell-based bioassays have also been proposed as part of the first tier screening step of a new conceptual framework for monitoring water contaminants in California (Maruya et al 2016).…”

Defence mechanisms: the role of physiology in current and future environmental protection paradigms

“…Most current risk assessment practices are designed with a focus on the stressor. In the case of anthropogenic toxicants, approaches seek to determine the ‘safe’ concentration of a given chemical, and give little consideration to the biological receptor ( Maruya et al , 2016 ; Burton, 2017 ). Traditional risk assessment is also characterized by its reductionist approach, condensing toxicological information down to a single value or set of values ( Jager, 2016 ).…”

“…invasive species or disease) stressor will result in a negative ecological outcome. Historically, environmental risk has been largely determined by monitoring the toxicity of stressors to individual model species, in controlled laboratory settings, using crude metrics such as mortality ( Maruya et al , 2016 ). These data have then been extrapolated to discern levels of stressors that will have no, or only a minor, environmental impact.…”