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US EPA bioeffects monitoring under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Overview of efforts to assess the biological impacts of CECs
Citation:
Blackwell, B., G. Ankley, J. Cavallin, K. Fay, D. Feifarek, K. Jensen, M. Kahl, S. Poole, E. Randolph, AND Dan Villeneuve. US EPA bioeffects monitoring under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Overview of efforts to assess the biological impacts of CECs. SETAC North America, Minneapolis, MN, November 12 - 16, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) have been identified as a potential hazard to Great Lakes fish and wildlife as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan II. As part of the multi-agency cooperative under GLRI, the USEPA has developed biological effects monitoring approaches to determine the impact of CECs. These approaches have been implemented across the Great Lakes and provide a valuable, complementary approach to determining the impact of CECs in the environment.
Description:
Product Description:Concern exists regarding the potential biological effects of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the Great Lakes. CECs arise from multiple sources, including agriculture, wastewater effluents, and urban nonpoint sources. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan II has prioritized identifying and assessing the impacts of CECs on Great Lakes wildlife as a critical factor in protecting and maintaining Great Lakes ecosystems. As part of this commitment, efforts at US EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division (MED) have focused on the development of tools and approaches to identify potential effects from exposure to environmental mixtures. These approaches have been piloted across the Great Lakes and provide a valuable, complementary approach to determining the impact of CECs in the environment and prioritizing associated monitoring and management actions. Abstract: Concern exists regarding the potential biological effects of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the Great Lakes. CECs originate from multiple sources, including agriculture, wastewater effluents, and urban nonpoint sources. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan II has prioritized identifying and assessing the impacts of CECs on Great Lakes wildlife as a critical factor in protecting and maintaining Great Lakes ecosystems. As part of this commitment, efforts at US EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division (MED) have focused on the development of bioeffects tools and approaches to identify potential effects from exposure to environmental mixtures. The approach involves deployment of caged, adult fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) along with a composite water sampler, which collects an integrated water sample during the environmental exposure. Following in situ exposure, tissues are collected for targeted (i.e., steroid hormones, transcriptional effects) and untargeted (e.g., ?‘omics) analyses. Composite water samples are used for chemical characterization of the environmental mixtures through targeted analytical chemistry and for cell-based bioassays. This approach has been applied at multiple watersheds across the Great Lakes over the past six years, including Duluth-Superior Harbor, MN; Maumee River, OH; Detroit River, MI; and Milwaukee Estuary, WI. This work has further led to the development and refinement of predictive toxicology tools, comparing characterized chemical exposures to toxicity databases (CTDBase, ToxCast) to identify putative biological pathways impacted by CECs. The approach and developed tools will be detailed, focusing on observed effects and lessons learned. The contents of this abstract neither constitute nor necessarily reflect US EPA policy.