Groundwater toxicity assessment using bioassay, chemical, and toxicity identification evaluation analyses

Abstract

Contaminated groundwater from a pesticide production facility was assessed using whole-organism and in-vitro bioassays to determine the potential for these tests to replace or augment traditional chemical analyses being employed at this site. The groundwater, which is contaminated with ( ) a variety of pesticides organochlorine, organophosphorus, and carbamate insecticides and pesticide ( ) adjuvants spreading agents, emulsifiers, etc. was sampled from an activated-carbon-based on-site remediation system before, during, and after the cleanup procedure. Toxicity was evaluated at each ( ) point using whole-organism 96-h acute Pimephales promelas, chronic 3-brood Ceriodaphnia dubia [ ( ) ᮋ ] and in-vitro submitochondrial particle SMP and Microtox bioassays. Chemical indicator parameters [ ( ) pentachlorophenol, gasoline-range organics GROs , and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes ( )] ( ) BTEX were also measured to compare with bioassay responses. 50% effective concentrations EC s 50 from the different tests indicate that the whole-organism assays were slightly more sensitive than the in-vitro assays: the order of sensitivity was C. dubia) P. promelas) SMP ) Microtox ᮋ , but responses were quite similar. All assays showed decreasing toxicity as cleanup progressed, mimicking the ( ) concomitant decrease in chemical concentration parameters. A toxicity identification evaluation TIE analysis, conducted using the in-vitro bioassays, identified pentachlorophenol as the major contributor to toxicity in the samples with additional contributions likely from other less-prevalent compounds. Results suggest that these in-vitro tests can be credible alternatives to whole-organism bioassays for monitoring remediation of system effluents and that they can complement chemical analyses with useful effects-based toxicity data. ᮊ

Seed germination, root elongation, root‐tip mitosis, and micronucleus induction of five crop plants exposed to chromium in fluvo‐aquic soil

“…Increased levels of Cr exert a significant stress for the environment and pose a risk for human health; therefore, the measurement of potential environmental risks of Cr‐polluted soil is imperative. As a reliable, simple, and rapid method, bioassays are widely used in such assessment . The benefits of using plants are that they can indicate the presence of metals at very low concentrations and offer relatively easy, accurate, and cheap toxicological assessment.…”

Toxicity Prediction: An Application of Alternative Testing and Computational Toxicology in Contaminated Groundwater Sites in Taiwan

“…Several studies have emphasized the necessity to combine chemical analyses with toxicity data for an efficient assessment and remediation of contaminated sites (Baderna et al, 2011;Gustavson et al, 2000;Müller et al, 2018). Therefore, this combined approach was performed in the current study to predict the groundwater sites that require immediate attention in a petrochemical district in Yunlin, Taiwan by integrating the chemical concentration and in vitro toxicity data of groundwater samples via the ToxPi tool.…”

“…However, chemical analyses alone do not provide information about the potential hazards of contaminated environmental matrices and can miss unexpected toxic compounds due to its targeted nature (Logeshwaran et al, 2018;Schroeder et al, 2016). Additionally, the toxicity of the contaminated groundwater needs to be further investigated using conventional animal models to extrapolate the potential toxic effects to humans (Gustavson et al, 2000;Siddiqui et al, 2011;van Leeuwen, 2000). However, with the current 3 R concept of "Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement" to reduce the quantity of animals used in experiments and to protect animal welfare (Tornqvist et al, 2014), there have been numerous efforts to promote alternative methods for assessing pollutant hazards.…”