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RECORD NUMBER: 45 OF 122

Main Title Fecal matter as a novel, noninvasive sample for monitoring exposure of freshwater aquatic mammals to anthropogenic organic contaminants /
Author Nwanguma, Frankline C.
Other Authors
Author Title of a Work
Kinney, Chad,
Year Published 2018
OCLC Number 1052468962
Subjects Feces--Examination ; Freshwater animals--Monitoring ; Freshwater animals--Effect of human beings on ; Water--Pollution--Colorado
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
ELBM  QH104.N83 2018 AWBERC Library/Cincinnati,OH 04/06/2020
Collation x, 79 leaves ; 28 cm
Notes
"Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-73).
Contents Notes
The purpose of this work is to develop and validate a noninvasive method for analyzing exposure of aquatic mammals to anthropogenic organic contaminants (AOCs). This pilot study further demonstrates the effectiveness of fecal matter as noninvasive sample matrix for monitoring environmental contamination. AOCs are chemicals from common everyday products and processes that can enter the environment directly or indirectly from treated solid waste (biosolids), typically used for crop production or they can be released in treated wastewater. Impacted aquatic environments and the inhabitants therein can be exposed to these xenobiotic compounds, which can biomagnify up the food chain. Some of these compounds are known to have harmful effects such as cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and induce several estrogenic endpoints in exposed organisms. American mink (Neovison vison) and North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis), both maintain a relatively small habitat and feeding ranges and have a diet heavy in fish and other lower trophic organisms, as a result they are considered suitable sentinel mammals for monitoring aquatic ecosystem contamination. The developed method utilizes pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) to extract target analytes from the fecal matter. The extract is put through a solid phase extraction (SPE) cleanup and pre-concentration by evaporation prior to derivatization and quantitative analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). For the 8 target analytes studied in this project (i.e. ibuprofen, acetaminophen, diclofenac, carbamazepine, triclosan, atrazine, bisphenol-A, and phenanthrene) the method recoveries ranged from 52 % for bisphenol-A to 109 % for carbamazepine. The analytical method was validated and applied to 13 fecal samples collected from 6 fishing access points along the banks of the Blackfoot and Bitterroot Rivers in Montana. Sites were selected on basis of accessibility and habitat components. Only 3 out of the 8 analytes were positively detected above the GC-MS detection limit. Bisphenol-A was detected in all 13 samples with mean concentrations from 140 to 2137 ng/g. Phenanthrene was detected in 7 samples and carbamazepine in 6 samples from 34 to 109 and 21 to 111 ng/g mean concentrations, respectively. Co-chromatography analysis was employed to tentatively qualify detection of ibuprofen, acetaminophen and triclosan, while atrazine and diclofenac were not detected in any of the fecal samples. These results suggest that this noninvasive approach of using fecal matter as a sample to monitor exposure to AOCs may have some utility, particularly in more heavily impacted locations. We hope this preliminary study provides the impetus for future studies to establish its utility.