Stable isotopes as tracers for emerging organic contaminants in natural and engineered systems

新出现的污染物是“新出现的令人担忧”的化学品，尽管人们越来越担心它们可能对生态系统和人类健康造成负面影响，但这些化学品不受监管。它们包括药品、个人护理产品和杀虫剂，因此可以因人类活动而进入水道。 拟议研究计划的目标是(1)了解河流和湖泊等自然环境中新出现的污染物的命运，(2)开发受自然启发的新的具有成本效益的水处理技术，如人工湿地，以及(3)开发基于稳定同位素的分析技术，提供线索以更好地了解地表水环境中新出现的污染物发生了什么。 我们将确定最合适的采样策略，以量化水中通常非常低浓度的新出现的污染物。我们还将研究污染物在环境中的分布，并调查它们对水生生物的生物利用度和在食物链中转移的可能性。研究的一部分将集中于开发水处理系统，其设计将受到自然环境(例如湿地)的启发。为此，我们将串联几个处理单元，每个处理单元专门用于特定的去除目标，例如阳光光解或植物吸收污染物。我们不仅要计算有多少初始污染被消除，而且我们还将识别转化产品并评估它们的毒性。此外，我们将实施方法来区分那些永久性的和破坏污染物的过程和那些可能只是隔离污染物以便以后可能重新释放的过程。为此，我们将开发基于稳定同位素的新分析方法，以帮助我们了解它们的环境命运，选择最合适的源头控制策略，并评估受自然启发的水处理系统的性能。 这项研究将在环境应用科学方面培训学生，特别是在影响我们水质的决策所依据的准确分析化学的关键重要性方面。这一培训将为学生在学术界、环境咨询、政府和工业等广泛领域的职业生涯做好准备。拟议的研究计划和新培训的高素质人员的结果将更好地描述新出现的污染物在自然和工程环境中的行为，这与加拿大非常相关--加拿大拥有丰富的水资源，必须受到保护。特别是，加拿大需要履行其责任，对五大湖进行最先进的监测和监测，以保护加拿大宝贵的水资源，并确保2600万依赖这一资源的人获得更安全的饮用水。

Emerging contaminants are chemicals of “emerging concern” that are not regulated despite rising concern about their possible negative effects on ecosystems and human health. They include pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and pesticides, and can therefore enter waterways as a result of human activities. The objectives of the proposed research program are to (1) understand the fate of emerging contaminants in natural environments such as rivers and lakes, (2) develop novel cost-effective water treatment technologies inspired from nature, such as constructed wetlands, and (3) develop analysis techniques based on stable isotopes that provide clues to better understand what happens to emerging contaminants in surface water environments. We will identify the most appropriate sampling strategies to quantify emerging contaminants at their typically very low concentrations in water. We will also look at the distribution of contaminants in the environment and investigate their bioavailability to aquatic organisms and potential to transfer in the food chain. A part of the research will focus on developing water treatment systems whose designs will be inspired from natural environments (e.g., wetlands). For that, we will combine several treatment cells in series, each dedicated to a specific removal objective such as photolysis by sunlight or contaminant uptake by plants. Not only will we calculate how much of the initial pollution is eliminated, but we will also identify transformation products and assess their toxicity. In addition, we will implement methods to distinguish between those processes that are permanent and destroy the contaminants versus those that may simply sequester the contaminants for later possible re-release. To this end, we will develop novel analytical methods based on stable isotopes to help us understand their environmental fate, select the most suitable source control strategies, and evaluate the performance of nature-inspired water treatment systems. This research will train students in environmental applied sciences, and in particular in the critical importance of accurate analytical chemistry on which to base decisions that impact our water quality. This training will prepare students for careers in a wide variety of sectors, in academia, environmental consulting, government and industry. The results of the proposed research program and the newly trained highly qualified personnel will provide a better characterization of the behavior of emerging contaminants in natural and engineered environments of great relevance to Canada – a nation with a rich water resource that must be protected. In particular, Canada needs to uphold its responsibility to state-of-the-art surveillance and monitoring of the Great Lakes to protect Canadian’s precious water resources, and ensure safer drinking water for the 26 million people who rely on this resource.