IRFP: Understanding and predicting adverse health effects of transformation products formed from organic micropollutants during water treatment

通过NSF国际研究奖学金计划，早期职业科学家和工程师可以进行长达24个月的国际研究合作。这种经历使博士后能够建立长期合作关系，并在独特的设施和实验条件下进行前沿研究。该奖项将支持Marcella Card博士与澳大利亚布里斯班昆士兰大学国家环境毒理学研究中心的Beate Escher博士以及瑞士苏黎世联邦水产科学与技术研究所的Kathrin Fenner博士一起开展为期24个月的研究。由于使用化学品，如药品、清洁产品、肥料和染料，生活废水中存在无数微污染物。在污水处理厂，这些微污染物通过生物和非生物过程转化，产生转化产物（TPs）。大多数TPs的毒性与母体化合物相同或更低，但在某些情况下，它们的毒性比母体化合物大得多，并且在废水回收供人类使用的地方可能影响人类健康。需要一种有效、可靠的方法来识别关注的化学品并筛选TP毒性。该项目将分为三个阶段。在第一阶段，利用废水处理厂中发生的已知生物和非生物转化过程，预测可能转化为有毒TPs的母体化合物。选定的母体化合物将不携带毒团（引起特定毒性的化学结构），但将具有前体结构，预计这些前体结构将通过非生物和生物过程转化为毒团。在本研究的第二阶段，预测的母体化合物将在中试规模的污水处理厂进行生物（活性污泥）和非生物（高级氧化）处理。随着转化的进展，将使用生物测定法测试反应混合物的特定毒性。如果毒性随TP浓度相对于母体化合物的增加而增加，则毒性形成的预测将得到支持。最后，TPs将在该项目的第三阶段使用质谱法进行鉴定。这项研究的广泛影响包括社会和专业利益。这项工作的结果将为未来有关美国和国际饮用水质量分析的政策决定提供信息。因此，这项工作可能有助于减少饮用循环水的人群中慢性毒性作用的发生率。该行业将受益于基础设施的改善（观察到的生物转变将被输入一个免费的在线数据库和预测系统）以及PI参与专业会议。最后，通过这项研究，PI将与澳大利亚和瑞士的学术和工业机构的同事建立长期合作关系，这将在当前研究完成后很长一段时间内继续帮助PI进行未来的研究。

1064560CardThrough the NSF International Research Fellowship Program, early-career scientists and engineers may spend up to 24 months in international research collaborations. This experience enables postdoctoral fellows to forge long-term collaborations and conduct cutting-edge research in unique facilities and experimental conditions. This award will support a 24 month fellowship for Dr. Marcella Card to work with Dr. Beate Escher at the National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and with Dr. Kathrin Fenner at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. Myriad micropollutants are present in domestic wastewater due to the use of chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, cleaning products, fertilizers, and dyes. In wastewater treatment plants these micropollutants are transformed via biotic and abiotic processes, resulting in transformation products (TPs). Most TPs are equally or less toxic than the parent compounds, but in some cases they are significantly more toxic than the parent compound, and may impact human health where wastewater is recycled for human use. There is a need for an efficient, reliable way to identify chemicals of concern and to screen TP toxicity.This project will consist of three phases. In the first phase, using known biotic and abiotic transformation processes that occur in wastewater treatment plants, parent compounds that may be transformed into toxic TPs will be predicted. Selected parent compounds will not carry toxicophores (chemical structures which cause specific toxicity) but will have precursor structures which will be predicted to be transformed into toxicophores by abiotic and biotic processes. In the second phase of this research, the predicted parent compounds will be subjected to biotic (activated sludge) and abiotic (advanced oxidation) processes in a pilot-scale wastewater treatment plant. As transformations progress, the reaction mixtures will be tested for specific toxicity using bioassays. The prediction of toxic TP formation will be supported if toxicity increases with increased TP concentrations relative to the parent compound. Finally, the TPs will be positively identified using mass spectrometry in the third phase of this project.The broader impacts of this research include both societal and professional benefits. The results of this work will inform future policy decisions concerning US and international drinking water quality analyses. Thus this work may contribute to reductions in the incidence of chronic toxic effects in populations that consume recycled water. The profession will benefit through improved infrastructure (the observed biotic transformations will be entered into a free online database and predictive system) and the PI's participation in professional conferences. Finally, through this research, the PI will establish long-term collaborations with colleagues in both Australia and Switzerland at academic and industrial institutions, which will continue to aid the PI in future research pursuits long after the current research is completed.