Identification of unknown contaminants and their toxicity in industrial effluents using integrative molecular methods

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Aquatic ecosystems around the world are experiencing declines in water quality and health which then negate the services that these ecosystems provide. Ontario and Canada as a whole, have vast freshwater resources but this poses a challenge with respect to sustaining, monitoring, and protecting these resources. Wastewater treatment plants, already overwhelmed due to the increased demand for drinking water, cannot efficiently remove the multitude of pollutants that now enter our drinking water. Pesticides, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals and personal care products all enter wastewater treatment plants, but due to their complex and diverse chemistry, few of these pollutants are treated effectively and many enter our aquatic ecosystems unimpeded. These contaminants are threatening Canada's aquatic ecosystems and will jeopardize the long-term sustainability of drinking water and related aquatic ecosystem services. Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) is tasked with protecting and monitoring Ontario's vast aquatic ecosystems. They are also required to incorporate the best available science and research to develop and deliver policies, legislation, regulations, standards, programs and services for informed monitoring and environmental protection. As such, the proposed partnership aims to develop a novel and integrated molecular-level platform for the identification of suspected pollutants, previously undocumented pollutants and their respective toxicity to a freshwater model organism (Daphnia magna) in wastewater effluents from nine different industrial sectors (electric power generation, industrial minerals, inorganic chemicals, iron and steel manufacturing, metal casting, mining, organic chemicals, petroleum, and pulp and paper) in collaboration with the MECP. This partnership will equip the MECP with cutting-edge scientific knowledge that will be used to evaluate and recommend effective regulatory tools that reflect present day chemical releases and molecular-level tools for environmental monitoring. These tools will improve environmental monitoring programs in Ontario and Canada which will in turn protect the environmental and health of aquatic ecosystems.