Aqueous and lipid nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomic profiles of the earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa show potential as an indicator species for environmental metabolomics.

The common pasture earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa has often been neglected in environmental metabolomics in favor of species easily bred in the laboratory. The present study assigns aqueous metabolites in A. caliginosa using high-resolution 1- and 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Does waterborne citalopram affect the aggressive and sexual behaviour of rainbow trout and guppy?

Citalopram is one of several selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) commonly found in treated sewage effluents. Accordingly, there are concerns about possible adverse effects of SSRIs on aquatic organisms, particularly behavioural effects similar to those associated with SSRI use in humans. Rainbow trout fry and adult male guppies were therefore exposed to waterborne citalopram, ranging from environmentally relevant to high concentrations (1, 10, 100 μg/L) for 3-7 days.

Variations in bioconcentration of human pharmaceuticals from sewage effluents into fish blood plasma.

The "Fish Plasma Model" has been proposed for prioritizing pharmaceuticals for in-depth environmental risk assessment efforts. The model compares estimated drug concentrations in fish plasma with human therapeutic plasma concentrations in order to assess the risk for a pharmacological interaction in the fish. In this study the equation used to estimate bioconcentration from water to fish blood plasma was field-tested by exposing rainbow trout in situ to sewage effluents from three treatment plants.

Sources of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban stormwater runoff.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals were measured in road debris collecting in urban areas and in the suspended sediment (SS) component of runoff from two stormwater catchments in Dunedin, New Zealand. Levels in the road debris ranged from 119-527 microg/g for lead, 50-464 microg/g for copper, 241-1 325 microg/g for zinc and 1.20-11.