Developing analytical environmental forensic techniques to identify new persistent and bioaccumlative chemicals

在过去的十年里，人造化学品的生产和使用有了显著的增长。一项研究估计，每天会产生4000种新的化学物质。工业生产的许多化学物质用于我们日常使用或接触的商业产品中。例如，阻燃剂被添加到沙发、床垫和椅子的泡沫材料中，以减轻火灾的蔓延。这些化学物质通常不与最终产品结合，并且随着时间的推移从预期的产品中释放出来。研究表明，这些添加性化学物质随后的释放可能导致人类直接接触。此外，从垃圾填埋场的最终产品中浸出的添加剂会污染其中的水生系统和生物。我们对许多用于商业目的的化学品的化学环境行为缺乏了解，主要是因为没有新的分析方法来检测和识别这些化合物。此外，这些化学物质对人类和野生动物的潜在威胁在很大程度上是未知的。

Over the last ten years, there has been a significant increase in the manufacture and use of man-made chemicals. One study has estimated that there are 4 000 new chemicals produced each day. Many of the chemicals produced by industry are used in commercial products that we use or encounter on a daily basis. For example, flame-retardants are added to foam materials used in couches, mattresses and chairs to mitigate the spread of fires. These chemicals are typically not bound to the end-product, and over time are released from the intended product. Research indicates that the subsequent release of these additive chemicals can result in direct human exposure. Furthermore, leaching of additives from end-products in land-fills can contaminate aquatic systems and organisms therein. Our understanding of the chemical environmental behavior of many chemicals used for commercial purposes is lacking primarily because new analytical methods to detect and identify these compounds are not available. In addition, the potential threat many of these chemicals pose to humans and wildlife is largely unknown. This proposed research will address some of the many data-gaps that currently exist. First, we will develop novel analytical techniques to identify chemicals in commercial use that to date have gone unreported. Our focus will be on those chemicals that are suspected to be a concern because they are persistent, toxic, and accumulative in higher organisms. We will employ a variety of separation and mass spectrometric detection techniques to isolate new and previously unreported chemicals and to identify their chemical structures. We strongly anticipate our research will lead to new chemical discoveries. We will also test the inherent toxicity on a judiciously selected sub-set of identified chemicals by using a fish bioassay that we are pioneering in our laboratory. Specifically, our toxicity studies will examine the impact exposure to these chemicals have on the production of sex hormones in fish. Our results will also contribute significantly to fundamental physical properties and toxicity reference databases employed by risk-assessors to model the behavior and toxicity of chemicals of emerging concern. Our expected results will provide the crucial scientific evidence required for national (Environment Canada) and international (Stockholm Convention) regulators to make sound regulatory decisions on the production and use of anthropogenic chemicals. Analytical advances made in our laboratory on the detection of new and previously unreported chemicals will benefit such agencies in aiding them to fulfill their mandates.