title: Bioassay battery interlaboratory investigation of emerging contaminants in spiked water extracts - Towards the implementation of bioanalytical monitoring tools in water quality assessment and monitoring.
abstract: Bioassays are particularly useful tools to link the chemical and ecological assessments in water quality monitoring. Different methods cover a broad range of toxicity mechanisms in diverse organisms, and account for risks posed by non-target compounds and mixtures. Many tests are already applied in chemical and waste assessments, and stakeholders from the science-police interface have recommended their integration in regulatory water quality monitoring. Still, there is a need to address bioassay suitability to evaluate water samples containing emerging pollutants, which are a current priority in water quality monitoring. The presented interlaboratory study (ILS) verified whether a battery of miniaturized bioassays, conducted in 11 different laboratories following their own protocols, would produce comparable results when applied to evaluate blinded samples consisting of a pristine water extract spiked with four emerging pollutants as single chemicals or mixtures, i.e. triclosan, acridine, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and 3-nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA). Assays evaluated effects on aquatic organisms from three different trophic levels (algae, daphnids, zebrafish embryos) and mechanism-specific effects using in vitro estrogenicity (ER-Luc, YES) and mutagenicity (Ames fluctuation) assays. The test battery presented complementary sensitivity and specificity to evaluate the different blinded water extract spikes. Aquatic organisms differed in terms of sensitivity to triclosan (algae > daphnids > fish) and acridine (fish > daphnids > algae) spikes, confirming the complementary role of the three taxa for water quality assessment. Estrogenicity and mutagenicity assays identified with high precision the respective mechanism-specific effects of spikes even when non-specific toxicity occurred in mixture. For estrogenicity, although differences were observed between assays and models, EE2 spike relative induction EC50values were comparable to the literature, and E2/EE2 equivalency factors reliably reflected the sample content. In the Ames, strong revertant induction occurred following 3-NBA spike incubation with the TA98 strain, which was of lower magnitude after metabolic transformation and when compared to TA100. Differences in experimental protocols, model organisms, and data analysis can be sources of variation, indicating that respective harmonized standard procedures should be followed when implementing bioassays in water monitoring. Together with other ongoing activities for the validation of a basic bioassay battery, the present study is an important step towards the implementation of bioanalytical monitoring tools in water quality assessment and monitoring.
authors: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors: Carolina
authors: C
authors: Di Paolo
authors: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Ottermanns
authors: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Man-Technology-Environment Research Centre, School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
authors: Steffen
authors: S
authors: Keiter
authors: INERIS, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France.
authors: Selim
authors: S
authors: Ait-Aissa
authors: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors: Kerstin
authors: K
authors: Bluhm
authors: UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors: Werner
authors: W
authors: Brack
authors: Department of Applied Environmental Science - ITM, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Magnus
authors: M
authors: Breitholtz
authors: Department Biochemistry and Ecotoxicology, Federal Institute of Hydrology, Koblenz, Germany.
authors: Sebastian
authors: S
authors: Buchinger
authors: Italian Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Carere
authors: ISSeP (Scientific Institute of Public Service), Liège, Wallonia, Belgium.
authors: Carole
authors: C
authors: Chalon
authors: Laboratoire d'Ecotoxicologie, Ifremer, L'Houmeau, France; Laboratoire de Physiologie et Génétique des Poissons, Inra, Rennes, France.
authors: Xavier
authors: X
authors: Cousin
authors: INERIS, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France.
authors: Valeria
authors: V
authors: Dulio
authors: UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany; National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology - Entox, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Centre for Applied Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany.
authors: Beate I
authors: BI
authors: Escher
authors: Institute for Environmental Studies -IVM, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Timo
authors: T
authors: Hamers
authors: Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment - RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors: Klára
authors: K
authors: Hilscherová
authors: Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment - RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors: Sergio
authors: S
authors: Jarque
authors: Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment - RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Jonas
authors: INERIS, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France.
authors: Emmanuelle
authors: E
authors: Maillot-Marechal
authors: ISSeP (Scientific Institute of Public Service), Liège, Wallonia, Belgium.
authors: Yves
authors: Y
authors: Marneffe
authors: Waterproef Laboratory, Edam, The Netherlands.
authors: Mai Thao
authors: MT
authors: Nguyen
authors: INERIS, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France.
authors: Pascal
authors: P
authors: Pandard
authors: Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology Eawag-EPFL, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Schifferli
authors: UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors: Tobias
authors: T
authors: Schulze
authors: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Centre for Applied Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany.
authors: Sven
authors: S
authors: Seidensticker
authors: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors: Thomas-Benjamin
authors: TB
authors: Seiler
authors: National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology - Entox, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors: Janet
authors: J
authors: Tang
authors: WATERNET Institute for the Urban Water Cycle, Division of Technology Research & Engineering, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Ron
authors: R
authors: van der Oost
authors: Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology Eawag-EPFL, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors: Etienne
authors: E
authors: Vermeirssen
authors: Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment - RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors: Radka
authors: R
authors: Zounková
authors: Institute for Environmental Studies -IVM, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Nick
authors: N
authors: Zwart
authors: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: henner.hollert@bio5.rwth-aachen.de.
authors: Henner
authors: H
authors: Hollert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D014867:Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D018508:Water Purification; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water
keywords: 17α-ethinylestradiol; 3-Nitrobenzanthrone; Acridine; Mechanism-specific toxicity; Organism-level toxicity; Triclosan