An inexpensive, temporally integrated system for monitoring occurrence and biological effects of aquatic contaminants in the field

作者：Michael D. Kahl, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Kyle E. Stevens, Anthony Schroeder, Elizabeth A. Makynen, Carlie A. LaLone, Kathleen Jensen, Meagan Hughes, Bruce A. Holmen, Evan Eid, Elizabeth J. Durhan, Jenna E. Cavallin, Jason P. Berninger‌, Gerald T. Ankley · 发表于：Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · 年份：2014 · DOI：10.1002/etc.2591 · 被引用次数：29 · 研究领域：Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology、Fish Ecology and Management Studies、Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts

Assessment of potential risks of complex contaminant mixtures in the environment requires integrated chemical and biological approaches. In support of the US Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the US Environmental Protection Agency lab in Duluth, MN, is developing these types of methods for assessing possible risks of aquatic contaminants in near-shore Great Lakes (USA) sites. One component involves an exposure system for caged fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) adults suitable for the wide range of habitat and deployment situations encountered in and around the Great Lakes. To complement the fish exposure system, the authors developed an automated device for collection of composite water samples that could be simultaneously deployed with the cages and reflect a temporally integrated exposure of the animals. The present study describes methodological details of the design, construction, and deployment of a flexible yet comparatively inexpensive (<600 USD) caged-fish/autosampler system. The utility and performance of the system were demonstrated with data collected from deployments at several Great Lakes sites. For example, over 3 field seasons, only 2 of 130 deployed cages were lost, and approximately 99% of successfully deployed adult fish were recovered after exposures of 4 d or longer. A number of molecular, biochemical, and apical endpoints were successfully measured in recovered animals, changes in which reflected known characteristics of the study sites (e.g., upregu...