An in-situ amphibian metamorphosis assay to evaluate oil spill-related toxicity in receiving fresh water environments

最近，加拿大皇家学会在他们的报告《释放到水环境中的原油的行为和环境影响》(RSC 2015)中指出了有关漏油进入淡水系统的主要知识差距。该小组对未来研究的建议包括：1)开发和改进溢油补救/回收方法；2)研究补救方法的有效性，特别是在淡水和北极生态系统中。对于拟议的行业合作伙伴Lorax环境服务有限公司(Lorax)，他们提供的一些主要服务是修复、处理、水质建模和环境评估(EA)。Lorax寻求实施新的、经过科学验证的方法来帮助评估水生生态系统的健康状况。这一研究项目将建立一种两栖动物变态试验，作为淡水生态系统健康和恢复的指标，可应用于危险地点和/或漏油修复后。两栖类幼虫对环境污染物特别敏感，因为它们很容易通过口腔和皮肤吸收接触到环境污染物。此外，青蛙从蝌蚪到成蛙的发育是一个非常复杂的过程，由复杂的激素相互作用所调控。这种激素系统在所有高等脊椎动物中都被保存下来，对石油产品中的污染物很敏感。因此，青蛙是它们栖息地与石油相关的毒性的极好生物指示器。这项研究将有助于测试使用青蛙蝌蚪作为与石油有关的毒性的哨兵的补救方法的有效性。能源行业在接受淡水的生态系统中进行环境影响评估时，将从这种方法中受益。此外，这项研究将有助于监测泄漏后生态系统的恢复，也将有助于其他研究人员研究相关的两栖动物种群健康，鉴于这一群体的全球下降。

Recently the Royal Society of Canada identified major knowledge gaps regarding oil spill into freshwater systems in their report "The Behaviour and Environmental Impacts of Crude Oil Released into Aqueous Environments" (RSC 2015). The panel's recommendations for future research includes, 1) the development and improvement of oil spill remediation/reclamation methods, and 2) research on the efficacy of remediation methods, especially in freshwater and arctic ecosystems.For the proposed industry partner, Lorax Environmental Services Ltd. (Lorax), some of the major services they offer to aid in evaluating the toxic effects of anthropogenic compounds introduced into receiving aquatic systems, are remediation, treatment, water quality modelling and environmental assessment (EA). Lorax seeks to implement new, scientifically proven methods to aid assessing the health of aquatic ecosystems. This research project will establish an amphibian metamorphosis assay to serve as indicator of health and recovery for freshwater ecosystems, which can be applied to sites at risk and/or post oil-spill remediation. Amphibian larvae are especially sensitive to environmental contaminants as they are readily exposed to them both orally, and through skin absorption. Moreover, frog development from tadpole to adult is a highly complicated process which is orchestrated by complex hormonal interactions. This hormone system is preserved in all higher vertebrates and is sensitive to contaminants from petroleum products. Thus, frogs are excellent bioindicators for petroleum-related toxicity in their habitat. This research will aid in testing effectiveness of remediation methods using frog tadpoles as sentinels for oil-related toxicity. The energy industry will benefit from this method when performing EAs in receiving, freshwater ecosystems. In addition, this study will aid to monitor ecosystem recovery post-spill, and as well, will be useful to other researchers studying related amphibian population health, in light of the global decline of this group.