Deriving safe short-term chemical exposure values (STEV) for drinking water.

Small and brief exceedances of chemicals above their guideline values in drinking water are unlikely to cause an appreciable increased risk to human health. As a result, short-term exposure values (STEV) can be derived to help decide whether drinking water can still be supplied to consumers without adverse health risks. In this study, three approaches were applied to calculate and compare STEV for pesticides.

Toolbox for the sampling and monitoring of benthic cyanobacteria.

Benthic cyanobacteria are a nuisance because they produce highly potent toxins and taste and odour compounds. Despite this, benthic cyanobacteria remain far less studied than their planktonic counterparts. For example, little is known about their growth or the seasonality of their secondary metabolite production.

Transformation of endocrine disrupting chemicals, pharmaceutical and personal care products during drinking water disinfection.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are frequently detected in drinking water sources. This raises concerns about the formation of potentially more toxic transformation products (TPs) after drinking water disinfection. This study applied a combination of computational and experimental methods to investigate the biological activity of eight EDCs and PPCPs commonly detected in source waters (acetaminophen, bisphenol A, carbamazepine, estrone, 17α-ethinylestradiol, gemfibrozil, naproxen and triclosan) before and after disinfection.

Benthic cyanobacteria: A source of cylindrospermopsin and microcystin in Australian drinking water reservoirs.

Cyanobacteria represent a health hazard worldwide due to their production of a range of highly potent toxins in diverse aquatic environments. While planktonic species have been the subject of many investigations in terms of risk assessment, little is known about benthic forms and their impact on water quality or human and animal health. This study aimed to purify isolates from environmental benthic biofilms sampled from three different drinking water reservoirs and to assess their toxin production by using the following methods: Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and quantitative PCR (qPCR).

Cyanotoxins: Which detection technique for an optimum risk assessment?

The presence of toxigenic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in drinking water reservoirs poses a risk to human and animal health worldwide. Guidelines and health alert levels have been issued in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines for three major toxins, which are therefore the subject of routine monitoring: microcystin, cylindrospermopsin and saxitoxin. While it is agreed that these toxic compounds should be monitored closely, the routine surveillance of these bioactive chemicals can be done in various ways and deciding which technique to use can therefore be challenging.

Extended Low-Dose Exposure to Saxitoxin Inhibits Neurite Outgrowth in Model Neuronal Cells.

The potent neurotoxin saxitoxin (STX) belongs to a group of structurally related analogues produced by both marine and freshwater phytoplankton. The toxins act by blocking voltage-gated sodium channels stopping the inflow of sodium ions and the generation of action potentials. Exposure from marine sources occurs as a result of consuming shellfish which have concentrated the toxins, and freshwater exposure can occur from drinking water although there have been no acute poisonings from the latter source to date.

Hypothetical scenario exercises to improve planning and readiness for drinking water quality management during extreme weather events.

Two hypothetical scenario exercises were designed and conducted to reflect the increasingly extreme weather-related challenges faced by water utilities as the global climate changes. The first event was based on an extreme flood scenario. The second scenario involved a combination of weather events, including a wild forest fire ('bushfire') followed by runoff due to significant rainfall.

Low dose extended exposure to saxitoxin and its potential neurodevelopmental effects: A review.

Saxitoxin (STX) and its analogs, the paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), are a group of potent neurotoxins well known for their role in acute paralytic poisoning by preventing the generation of action potentials in neuronal cells. They are found in both marine and freshwater environments globally and although acute exposure from the former has previously received more attention, low dose extended exposure from both sources is possible and to date has not been investigated. Given the known role of cellular electrical activity in neurodevelopment this pattern of exposure may be a significant public health concern.

Effect of increasing bromide concentration on toxicity in treated drinking water.

Research is increasingly indicating the potential chronic health effects of brominated disinfection by-products (DBPs). This is likely to increase with elevated bromide concentrations resulting from the impacts of climate change, projected to include extended periods of drought and the sudden onset of water quality changes. This will demand more rigorous monitoring throughout distribution systems and improved water quality management at water treatment plants (WTPs).

Undifferentiated murine embryonic stem cells used to model the effects of the blue-green algal toxin cylindrospermopsin on preimplantation embryonic cell proliferation.

Undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cell (mES) proliferation in vitro resembles aspects of in vivo pre-implantation embryonic development. mES were used to assess the embryo-toxicity of cylindrospermopsin (CYN), a water contaminant with an Australian Drinking Water Guideline (ADWG) of 1 μg/L. mES exposed to 0-1 μg/mL CYN for 24-168 h were subjected to an optimised crystal violet viability assay.

Extreme weather events: Should drinking water quality management systems adapt to changing risk profiles?

Among the most widely predicted and accepted consequences of global climate change are increases in both the frequency and severity of a variety of extreme weather events. Such weather events include heavy rainfall and floods, cyclones, droughts, heatwaves, extreme cold, and wildfires, each of which can potentially impact drinking water quality by affecting water catchments, storage reservoirs, the performance of water treatment processes or the integrity of distribution systems. Drinking water guidelines, such as the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and the World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, provide guidance for the safe management of drinking water.

Evaluating Evidence for Association of Human Bladder Cancer with Drinking-Water Chlorination Disinfection By-Products.

Exposure to chlorination disinfection by-products (CxDBPs) is prevalent in populations using chlorination-based methods to disinfect public water supplies. Multifaceted research has been directed for decades to identify, characterize, and understand the toxicology of these compounds, control and minimize their formation, and conduct epidemiologic studies related to exposure. Urinary bladder cancer has been the health risk most consistently associated with CxDBPs in epidemiologic studies.

Benchmarking organic micropollutants in wastewater, recycled water and drinking water with in vitro bioassays.

Thousands of organic micropollutants and their transformation products occur in water. Although often present at low concentrations, individual compounds contribute to mixture effects. Cell-based bioassays that target health-relevant biological endpoints may therefore complement chemical analysis for water quality assessment.

Assessment of the application of bioanalytical tools as surrogate measure of chemical contaminants in recycled water.

The growing use of recycled water in large urban centres requires comprehensive public health risk assessment and management, an important aspect of which is the assessment and management of residual trace chemical substances. Bioanalytical methods such as in vitro bioassays may be ideal screening tools that can detect a wide range of contaminants based on their biological effect. In this study, we applied thirteen in vitro assays selected explicitly for their ability to detect molecular and cellular effects relevant to potential chemical exposure via drinking water as a means of screening for chemical contaminants from recycled water at 9 Australian water reclamation plants, in parallel to more targeted direct chemical analysis of 39 priority compounds.

A roadmap for hazard monitoring and risk assessment of marine biotoxins on the basis of chemical and biological test systems.

Aquatic food accounts for over 40% of global animal food products, and the potential contamination with toxins of algal origin--marine biotoxins--poses a health threat for consumers. The gold standards to assess toxins in aquatic food have traditionally been in vivo methods, i.e.

Health risk assessment for cyanobacterial toxins in seafood.

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are abundant in fresh, brackish and marine waters worldwide. When toxins produced by cyanobacteria are present in the aquatic environment, seafood harvested from these waters may present a health hazard to consumers. Toxicity hazards from seafood have been internationally recognised when the source is from marine algae (dinoflagellates and diatoms), but to date few risk assessments for cyanobacterial toxins in seafood have been presented.

Cylindrospermopsin, a blue-green algal toxin, inhibited human luteinised granulosa cell protein synthesis in vitro.

The blue-green algal toxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN) inhibits protein synthesis, and CYP450 enzymes metabolise CYN to cytotoxic endproducts. Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) stimulates the de novo synthesis of StAR and CYP450 aromatase. Human IVF-derived granulosa cells (GC) (n=7) were exposed to 0-5μM CYN±1IU/ml hCG for 2-24h.

In vitro toxicity and genotoxicity assessment of disinfection by-products, organic N-chloramines.

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) are of concern to both water industries and health authorities. Although several classes of DBPs have been studied, and there are regulated safe levels in disinfected water for some, a large portion of DBPs are not characterized, and need further investigation. Organic N-chloramines are a group of DBPs, which can be formed during common disinfection processes such as chlorination and chloramination, but little is known in terms of their toxicological significance if consumed in drinking water.

Evaluation of the Abraxis Strip Test for Microcystins™ for use with wastewater effluent and reservoir water.

Rapid tests for the microcystin-type cyanobacterial toxins that are designed to be able to be used in the field have recently become available. The tests provide a semi-quantitative result over a relatively narrow concentration range (10-fold) and are available with detection limits relevant for drinking water and recreational water compliance testing (1 μg/L and 10 μg/L, respectively). The aim of this research was to assess the applicability of these tests for the determination of microcystin-related toxicity in treated effluent from the Western Treatment Plant and potable source water from Tarago Reservoir, both near Melbourne, Australia.

Toxicity of the cyanobacterium Limnothrix AC0243 to male Balb/c mice.

A growing list of freshwater cyanobacteria are known to produce toxic agents, a fact which makes these organisms of concern to water authorities. A cultured strain of Limnothrix (AC0243) was recently shown to have toxic effects in in vitro bioassays. It did not produce any of the known cyanobacterial toxins.

Community composition, toxigenicity, and environmental conditions during a cyanobacterial bloom occurring along 1,100 kilometers of the Murray River.

A cyanobacterial bloom impacted over 1,100 km of the Murray River, Australia, and its tributaries in 2009. Physicochemical conditions in the river were optimal to support a bloom at the time. The data suggest that at least three blooms occurred concurrently in different sections of the river, with each having a different community composition and associated cyanotoxin profile.

Novel cytotoxicity associated with Anabaena circinalis 131C.

The production of secondary metabolites by cyanobacteria is extensively varied. Anabaena spp. have been shown to produce the toxins saxitoxin, anatoxin-a, anatoxin-a(s), cylindrospermopsin and microcystin.

Potential carcinogenic hazards of non-regulated disinfection by-products: haloquinones, halo-cyclopentene and cyclohexene derivatives, N-halamines, halonitriles, and heterocyclic amines.

Drinking water disinfectants react with natural organic material (NOM) present in source waters used for drinking water to produce a wide variety of by-products. Several hundred disinfections by-products (DBPs) have been identified, but none have been identified with sufficient carcinogenic potency to account for the cancer risks projected from epidemiological studies. In a search for DBPs that might fill this risk gap, the present study projected reactions of chlorine and chloramine that could occur with substructures present in NOM to produce novel by-products.

Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of cylindrospermopsin in mice treated by gavage or intraperitoneal injection.

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN), a cyanobacterial hepatotoxin mainly produced by Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, has been involved in human intoxications and livestock deaths. The widespread occurrence of CYN in the water supplies lead us to investigate its genotoxicity to assess potential chronic effects. This study reports evaluation of CYN-induced in vivo DNA damage in mice using alkaline comet assay (ACA) and micronucleus assay (MNA) concomittantly.

Cyanotoxins are not implicated in the etiology of coral black band disease outbreaks on Pelorus Island, Great Barrier Reef.

Cyanobacterial toxins (i.e. microcystins) produced within the microbial mat of coral black band disease (BBD) have been implicated in disease pathogenicity.