title: Daphnia behavioural responses to taste and odour compounds: ecological significance and application as an inline treatment plant monitoring tool.
abstract: Continuous monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in raw water is highly desirable for taste and odour management, but in most treatment plants this capacity is lacking. We used a bbe Daphnia toximeter installed in the Zurich water treatment plant to determine if Daphnia magna could be used to monitor odour compounds in source-water. Trace levels of two widely distributed biogenic VOCs in freshwater: P-cyclocitral and 2(E),4(E),7(Z)-decatrienal were added to the raw water inflow to chambers containing test animals and their behaviour was recorded using a high resolution camera. We observed that each compound elicited a marked short-term increase in Daphnia swimming velocity, but the effect was brief and an acclimation to the compounds was observed after a time period or with repeated additions. The results demonstrate that the toximeter has considerable potential as a tool to monitor certain VOCs in water, and that Daphnia perceive and react to 2(E),4(E),7(Z)-decatrienal and P-cyclocitral at concentrations between 2.5 and 25 microM.
authors.affiliation: Environment Canada, Canadian Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, ON, Canada. sue.watson@ec.gc.ca
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jüttner
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Köster
mesh_terms: D000447:Aldehydes / Q000032:analysis; D000475:Alkenes / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D002621:Chemistry / Q000379:methods; D003621:Daphnia / Q000187:drug effects*; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: C508576:2E,4Z,7Z-decatrienal; D000447:Aldehydes; D000475:Alkenes; D004224:Diterpenes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water; C516118:beta-cyclocitral