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Screening ecological impacts of environmental surface waters using cell-based metabolomics
Citation:
Teng, Q., D. Ekman, H. Zhen, Dan Villeneuve, J. Cavallin, J. Davis, G. Ankley, AND Tim Collette. Screening ecological impacts of environmental surface waters using cell-based metabolomics. SETAC North America 37th Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, November 06 - 10, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Poster for SETAC North America 37th Annual Meeting
Description:
Anthropogenic chemicals are routinely detected in aquatic ecosystems downstream from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), industrial and agricultural operations, and numerous other sources. Various studies have shown that exposure to such complex chemical mixtures can produce adverse health effects in resident organisms. Metabolomics has the ability to identify sensitive biological impacts produced by such exposures and provide information related to the primary mode of action. To increase throughput, a cell-based metabolomics approach has been developed to identify biochemical indicators of chemical exposures for rapidly assessing environmental impacts to support regulators. In this study, we applied cell-based metabolomics to detect biological impacts of environmental surface waters collected in the St. Louis Bay area, one of 43 Great Lakes areas of concern (AOCs) designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada. The goal of this study was to evaluate the utility of cell-based metabolomics for rapid and low cost monitoring of biological activity of surface waters receiving treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) at this AOC. To do so, we first developed a procedure for exposing zebrafish liver (ZFL) cells to media prepared with surface water samples. By analyzing the metabolite profiles of ZFL cells using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and GC/MS, we characterized cellular responses of ZFL cells exposed to the surface waters and assessed the biological impacts of WWTP effluents at this site.
