Impacts of contaminants on aquatic organisms

鱼类和其他水生生物暴露在来自污水处理厂、工业和农田径流的化学污染物的混合物中。这些化学物质通常不会直接杀死水生生物，但它们会影响它们在水环境中繁殖或繁衍的能力。科学家们正在寻找方法，根据鱼类和其他水生生物体内化学成分的变化来预测它们是否受到这些化学物质的影响。在特伦特大学，我们将使用我们水质中心最先进的分析设施来寻找鱼类新陈代谢的细微变化，这表明它们正在受到混合污染物的影响。通过实验室和野外实验，我们将观察鱼类大脑化学的变化，看看它们是否受到城市污水处理厂排放到河流和溪流中的抗抑郁药物和非法药物(如可卡因)的影响。同样，我们将收集鱼类的血液样本，看看它们是否有证据表明，由于暴露在化学混合物中，它们存在“氧化应激”的迹象。氧化应激自然发生在细胞中，但当化学物质压倒细胞处理这种情况的能力时，细胞开始分解，生物体的健康受到损害。在我的指导下，特伦特大学环境与生命科学研究生项目的两名硕士和两名博士研究生将参与这个项目。

Fish and other aquatic organisms are exposed to a mixture of chemical contaminants that come from sewage treatment plants, industry and runoff from agricultural fields. These chemicals do not usually kill aquatic organisms directly, but they can affect their ability to reproduce or to thrive in the aquatic environment. Scientists are looking for ways to predict from changes in the body chemistry of fish and other aquatic organisms whether they are being affected by exposure to these chemicals. At Trent University, we will use the state-of-the-art analytical facilities in our Water Quality Centre to look for subtle changes in the metabolism of fish that indicate that they are being affected by mixtures of contaminants. Using both lab and field experiments, we will look at changes in the brain chemistry of fish to see if they are being affected by exposure to the antidepressants and illicit drugs such as cocaine that are being released from municipal sewage treatment plants into rivers and streams. Similarly, we will collect blood samples from fish to see if they are showing evidence of “oxidative stress” as a result of exposure to chemical mixtures. Oxidative stress occurs naturally in cells, but when chemicals overwhelm the ability of cells to deal with this condition, the cells begin to break down and the health of the organism is compromised. Working under my supervision, two Master's level and two Doctoral level graduate students enrolled in the Environmental and Life Sciences graduate program at Trent University will work on this project.