Protecting Canada's drinking water: Developing real-time early-warning biomonitoring technology

这项提案涉及制定早期预警战略的必要性，以发现饮用水水源面临的潜在威胁。最终构成加拿大部分饮用水供应的天然水体可能含有多种污染物，如重金属、多环芳烃、卤代有机分子、药物、病原体等。虽然其中一些成分的相关健康风险已为人所知，但在许多其他领域仍然缺乏令人担忧的研究。我们的提案将开发一种创新的方法，在这些有害成分到达饮用水设施之前评估这些水传播污染物的潜在毒性。我们将使用一个全面的、基于多种生物体的系统来测量水生群落中的应激反应，并将实时监测这些应激反应。我们还将开发基于单个生物体对特定类别的应激源(化学和生物)的剂量反应的生态毒性模型。这些模型将有助于对数据的解释，并将为自来水公司管理者提供有关压力源性质的信息。此外，这些知识将有助于制定战略，最大限度地减少对最终用户的风险。我们建议的最终目标是开发和实施饮用水设施的实时预警系统，该系统将使用生物监测有机体来检测化学污染物和病原体。为了实现这一目标，我们的项目将：1)测量水生植物和无脊椎动物对与环境相关的浓度和局部病原体的化学应激源的反应；2)开发一种基于微阵列的测试，可用于直接检测病原体；3)建立和测试饮用水设施中的流动系统，以实时确定应激反应；4)开发整套生物监测生物对化学污染物和病原体的定型反应方法。当在生物体中观察到反应时，这些模型将被用来预测污染的性质。这些模型最终将构成早期预警系统的基础，以实时监测饮用水设施中化学和生物制剂的潜在毒性。

This proposal addresses the necessity of developing an early-warning strategy to detect potential threats todrinking water sources. Natural bodies of water that ultimately constitute some of Canada's drinking watersupply can contain a variety of pollutants such as heavy metals, PAHS, halogenated organic molecules,pharmaceuticals, pathogens, etc. While the associated health risks of some of these components are alreadyknown, there remains an alarming lack of research in many other areas. Our proposal will develop aninnovative approach to assessing the potential toxicity of waterborne contaminants before these deleteriousconstituents reach drinking-water facilities. We will use a holistic, multi organism-based system to measurestress reactions in the aquatic community and will monitor these stress responses in real-time. We will alsodevelop ecotoxicity models based on dose-responses of individual organisms to specific classes of stressors(chemical and biological). These models will aid in the interpretation of the data and will provide informationfor water-utilities managers about the nature of the stressor. Also, this knowledge will be useful in strategies tominimize risk to end-users. The ultimate goal of our proposal is the development and implementation of anearly-warning system in real-time for drinking-water facilities that would detect chemical contaminants andpathogens using biomonitoring organisms. In order to achieve this, our project will: 1) measure responses inaquatic plants and invertebrates to chemical stressors at environmentally-relevant concentrations and topathogens; 2) develop a microarray-based test that can be used to directly detect pathogenic organisms; 3) buildand test a flow-through system in a drinking-water facility for stress-response determinations in real-time; 4)develop methods of stereotyped responses for the whole suite of biomonitoring organisms to chemicalcontaminants and pathogens. These models will be used to predict the nature of contamination when responsesare observed among the organisms. These models will ultimately form the basis of the early-warning system tomonitor potential toxicity of chemical and biological agents in real-time at drinking-water facilities.