Arsenic speciation in freshwater fish: challenges and research needs.

Food and water are the main sources of human exposure to arsenic. It is important to determine arsenic species in food because the toxicities of arsenic vary greatly with its chemical speciation. Extensive research has focused on high concentrations of arsenic species in marine organisms.

Sensory and Behavioral Responses of a Model Fish to Oil Sands Process-Affected Water with and without Treatment.

If oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) is to be returned to the environment, a desire is that it not adversely affect aquatic life. We investigated whether a relevant model fish (rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss) could detect OSPW using its olfactory sense (smell) and whether exposure to it would result in behavioral changes. We also investigated whether ozonation of OSPW, which lowers the concentration of organic compounds attributed with toxicity (naphthenic acids), would ameliorate any observed adverse effects.

Advanced analytical mass spectrometric techniques and bioassays to characterize untreated and ozonated oil sands process-affected water.

Oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) is a toxic and poorly biodegradable mixture of sand, silt, heavy metals, and organics. In this study, qualitative and quantitative comparisons of naphthenic acids (NAs) were done using ultraperformance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC TOF-MS), Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) MS, and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). The unique combination of these analyses allowed for the determination and correlation of NAs, oxidized NAs, and heteroatom (sulfur or nitrogen) NAs.