Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2022 Jul;41(7):1765-1777. doi: 10.1002/etc.5341. Epub 2022 May 25.
There is increasing interest in using autonomous sensor technology to monitor aquatic ecosystems in real time and in employing such monitoring data to perform better ecological risk assessments. At seven locations in McClean Lake in northern Saskatchewan (Canada) that received diluted uranium milling effluent, we deployed sensor units to track effluent distribution and help predict potential biological effects on aquatic invertebrates. Water was also collected from each location on multiple occasions to measure major ions, dissolved metals, and routine water quality, and sediment was sampled to analyze total metals. The ecotoxicological risk to aquatic invertebrates was estimated using hazard quotients (HQs). The cumulative risk was estimated by summing the individual HQs, and the major ions risk was based on total osmolarity. The results indicated temporal and spatial variations in effluent exposure based on sensor electrical conductivity (EC) measurements in the McClean Lake East Basin. Individual HQs for water ranged from "moderate" (0.40-0.69) to "very high" (greater than 1) for silver, cadmium, arsenic, selenium, mercury, iron, and thallium. At all sites, major ions risk was less than 1. Individual HQs for sediment were "moderate" (0.40-0.69), "high" (0.7-0.99), and "very high" (greater than 1) for vanadium and cadmium. The cumulative risk in water and sediment for all metals combined was greater than 1 at some sites in Vulture Lake (which discharged into McClean Lake) and in McClean Lake itself. A more detailed estimation of the risks for aqueous selenium and arsenic (the only two metals that had good correlation with sensor EC data) indicated that their 90th percentile HQ values were less than 1 in McClean Lake, suggesting that these contaminants of concern do not represent a significant direct risk to aquatic invertebrate communities. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1765-1777. © 2022 SETAC.
人们越来越感兴趣的是使用自主传感器技术实时监测水生生态系统，并利用这种监测数据来更好地进行生态风险评估。在加拿大萨斯喀彻温省北部 McClean 湖的七个地点（这些地点接收经稀释的铀矿冶废水），我们部署了传感器单元来跟踪废水分布，并帮助预测对水生无脊椎动物的潜在生物影响。还多次从每个地点采集水样，以测量主要离子、溶解金属和常规水质，并采集沉积物样本以分析总金属。使用危害系数 (HQ) 来估计水生无脊椎动物的生态毒理风险。通过将单个 HQ 相加来估算累积风险，并且主要离子风险基于总渗透压。结果表明，根据 McClean Lake East 盆地传感器电导率 (EC) 测量结果，废水暴露存在时间和空间变化。水的单个 HQ 值范围为银、镉、砷、硒、汞、铁和铊的“中等”（0.40-0.69）到“非常高”（大于 1）。在所有地点，主要离子风险均小于 1。沉积物的单个 HQ 值为钒和镉的“中等”（0.40-0.69）、“高”（0.7-0.99）和“非常高”（大于 1）。在 Vulture Lake（排入 McClean Lake）和 McClean Lake 自身的一些地点，水和沉积物中所有金属组合的累积风险大于 1。对与传感器 EC 数据相关性良好的唯一两种金属——硒和砷的风险进行更详细的估计表明，它们的第 90 百分位 HQ 值在 McClean Lake 中小于 1，表明这些关注的污染物不会对水生无脊椎动物群落构成重大直接风险。Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1765-1777。 © 2022 SETAC。
