Daphnia as a Sentinel Species for Environmental Health Protection: A Perspective on Biomonitoring and Bioremediation of Chemical Pollution

Abstract

Despite available technology and the knowledge that chemical pollution damages human and ecosystem health, chemical pollution remains rampant, ineffectively monitored, rarely prevented, and only occasionally mitigated. We present a framework that helps address current major challenges in the monitoring and assessment of chemical pollution by broadening the use of the sentinel species Daphnia as a diagnostic agent of water pollution. And where prevention has failed, we propose the application of Daphnia as a bioremediation agent to help reduce hazards from chemical mixtures in the environment. By applying “omics” technologies to Daphnia exposed to real-world ambient chemical mixtures, we show improvements at detecting bioactive components of chemical mixtures, determining the potential effects of untested chemicals within mixtures, and identifying targets of toxicity. We also show that using Daphnia strains that naturally adapted to chemical pollution as removal agents of ambient chemical mixtures can sustainably improve environmental health protection. Expanding the use of Daphnia beyond its current applications in regulatory toxicology has the potential to improve both the assessment and the remediation of environmental pollution.

Production of Silver Nano-Inks and Surface Coatings for Anti-Microbial Food Packaging and Its Ecological Impact

“…Daphniids have gained significant interest mainly because of their geographical distribution and pivotal role in freshwater food webs. Recently, daphniids were classified as a key indicator species in molecular ecotoxicology [ 24 ]. With nanomaterials being present in the environment and nano-silver being the most widely used nanomaterials in consumer products, the mortality rate of daphniids upon exposure to silver nano-ink was measured in a dose-dependent manner.…”

Molecular Responses of Daphnids to Chronic Exposures to Pharmaceuticals

“…In particular, the anticonvulsant, gabapentin was responsible for the most differences in metabolite levels, these changes were coupled with alterations in several enzyme activities. The employment of the sentinel species Daphnia magna in ecotoxicology studies offers an alternative to animal testing in the risk assessment of a chemical, and in this approach daphnids act as the “canary in the coal mine” within aquatic environments [ 65 ] providing profound insight to the toxicity potential of chemicals. We envisage that when applied in real-life settings, these novel approaches for monitoring will allow the timely prediction of pollution in the aquatic environment before it reaches irreversible levels.…”

Entanglement of Daphnia magna by Fibrous Microplastics through “Hook and Loop” Action

“…Zooplankton play crucial roles in aquatic ecosystems, serving as intermediaries in food chains and facilitating energy transfer as well as nutrient cycling. Daphnids are also widely used in ecotoxicity research and present advantages, including high fecundity and a short generation cycle …”