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

新出现的污染物是“新出现的关注”的化学物质，尽管人们越来越担心它们可能对生态系统和人类健康产生负面影响，但它们没有受到监管。它们包括药品、个人护理产品和杀虫剂，因此可以作为人类活动的结果进入水道。***拟议研究计划的目标是：(1)了解自然环境中新出现的污染物的命运，如河流和湖泊；(2)开发受自然启发的具有成本效益的新型水处理技术，如人工湿地；(3)开发基于稳定同位素的分析技术，为更好地了解地表水环境中新出现的污染物的变化提供线索。***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潜力。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，我们将把几个处理细胞串联起来，每个细胞都致力于特定的去除目标，如阳光的光解作用或植物对污染物的吸收。我们不仅要计算消除多少最初的污染，而且还要确定转化产物并评估它们的毒性。此外，我们将实施一些方法来区分那些永久破坏污染物的过程和那些可能只是将污染物隔离以供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型分析方法，以帮助我们了解它们的环境命运，选择最合适的源控制策略，并评估自然启发的水处理系统的性能。***这项研究将培养学生在环境应用科学方面的能力，特别是在准确分析化学的关键重要性方面，这是影响我们水质的决策的基础。这项培训将为学生在学术界、环境咨询、政府和工业等各个部门的职业生涯做好准备。拟议的研究计划的结果和新培训的高素质人员将更好地描述与加拿大有很大关系的自然和工程环境中新出现的污染物的行为，加拿大是一个拥有丰富的水资源必须得到保护的国家。特别是，加拿大需要坚持其责任，对五大湖进行最先进的监视和监测，以保护加拿大宝贵的水资源，并确保为依赖这一资源的2 600万人提供更安全的饮用水。

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.