Transcriptomic Effects-Based Monitoring for Endocrine Active Chemicals: Assessing Relative Contribution of Treated Wastewater to Downstream Pollution

• Published in: Environmental science & technology Vol. 48; no. 4; pp. 2385 - 2394
• Main Authors: Martinović-Weigelt, Dalma, Mehinto, Alvine C, Ankley, Gerald T, Denslow, Nancy D, Barber, Larry B, Lee, Kathy E, King, Ryan J, Schoenfuss, Heiko L, Schroeder, Anthony L, Villeneuve, Daniel L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 18.02.2014
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Analytical chemistry; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; bioactive properties; Biological and medical sciences; Chemicals; cholesterol; Cyprinidae - genetics; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Effluents; Endocrine Disruptors - toxicity; Endocrine system; endocrine-disrupting chemicals; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Exact sciences and technology; Fish; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; genes; liver; Liver - drug effects; Liver - metabolism; Male; males; microarray technology; monitoring; Pollution; Principal Component Analysis; Seasons; steroid metabolism; Techniques; Teleostei; Transcriptome - drug effects; Transcriptome - genetics; transcriptomics; Waste Water - chemistry; wastewater; wastewater treatment; Wastewaters; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Water Pollution - analysis; Water Purification; Water treatment; Water treatment and pollution; watersheds; Pollutant; Vertebrata; Investigation method; Toxicity; Pisces; Transcriptome; Endocrine disruptor; Pimephales promelas; Effluent; Sewage treatment plant; Waste water
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es404027n

The present study investigated whether a combination of targeted analytical chemistry information with unsupervised, data-rich biological methodology (i.e., transcriptomics) could be utilized to evaluate relative contributions of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents to biological effects. The effects of WWTP effluents on fish exposed to ambient, receiving waters were studied at three locations with distinct WWTP and watershed characteristics. At each location, 4 d exposures of male fathead minnows to the WWTP effluent and upstream and downstream ambient waters were conducted. Transcriptomic analyses were performed on livers using 15 000 feature microarrays, followed by a canonical pathway and gene set enrichment analyses. Enrichment of gene sets indicative of teleost brain–pituitary–gonadal–hepatic (BPGH) axis function indicated that WWTPs serve as an important source of endocrine active chemicals (EACs) that affect the BPGH axis (e.g., cholesterol and steroid metabolism were altered). The results indicated that transcriptomics may even pinpoint pertinent adverse outcomes (i.e., liver vacuolization) and groups of chemicals that preselected chemical analytes may miss. Transcriptomic Effects-Based monitoring was capable of distinguishing sites, and it reflected chemical pollution gradients, thus holding promise for assessment of relative contributions of point sources to pollution and the efficacy of pollution remediation.