Bioassay battery interlaboratory investigation of emerging contaminants in spiked water extracts - Towards the implementation of bioanalytical monitoring tools in water quality assessment and monitoring
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Water Research |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135416306182 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.08.018 |
| Field | Environment influence on health |
| Keywords | Triclosan; Acridine; 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol; 3-Nitrobenzanthrone; Organism-level toxicity; Mechanism-specific toxicity |
| Description | Bioassays are particularly useful tools to link the chemical and ecological assessments in water quality monitoring. Different methods cover a broad range of toxicity mechanisms in diverse organisms, and account for risks posed by non-target compounds and mixtures. There is a need to address bioassay suitability to evaluate water samples containing emerging pollutants, which are a current priority in water quality monitoring. The presented interlaboratory study (ILS) verified whether a battery of miniaturized bioassays, conducted in 11 different laboratories following their own protocols, would produce comparable results when applied to evaluate blinded samples consisting of a pristine water extract spiked with four emerging pollutants as single chemicals or mixtures, i.e. triclosan, acridine, 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and 3-nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA). Assays evaluated effects on aquatic organisms from three different trophic levels and mechanism-specific effects using in vitro estrogenicity and mutagenicity assays. The test battery presented complementary sensitivity and specificity to evaluate the different blinded water extract spikes. Estrogenicity and mutagenicity assays identified with high precision the respective mechanism-specific effects of spikes even when non-specific toxicity occurred in mixture. Differences in experimental protocols, model organisms, and data analysis can be sources of variation, indicating that respective harmonized standard procedures should be followed when implementing bioassays in water monitoring. Together with other ongoing activities for the validation of a basic bioassay battery, the present study is an important step towards the implementation of bioanalytical monitoring tools in water quality assessment and monitoring. |
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