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Perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAAs) are persistent environmental pollutants, found in the serum of human populations internationally. Due to concerns regarding their bioaccumulation, and possible health effects, an understanding of routes... more
Perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAAs) are persistent environmental pollutants, found in the serum of human populations internationally. Due to concerns regarding their bioaccumulation, and possible health effects, an understanding of routes of human exposure is necessary. PFAAs are recalcitrant in many water treatment processes, making drinking water a potential source of human exposure. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing the exposure to PFAAs via potable water in Australia. Sixty-two samples of potable water, collected from 34 locations across Australia, including capital cities and regional centers. The samples were extracted by solid phase extraction and analyzed via liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for a range of perfluoroalkyl carboxylates and sulfonates. PFOS and PFOA were the most commonly detected PFAAs, quantifiable in 49% and 44% of all samples respectively. The maximum concentration in any sample was seen for PFOS with a concentration of 16 ng L(-1), second highest maximums were for PFHxS and PFOA at 13 and 9.7 ng L(-1). The contribution of drinking water to daily PFOS and PFOA intakes in Australia was estimated. Assuming a daily intake of 1.4 and 0.8 ng kg(-1) bw for PFOS and PFOA the average contribution from drinking water was 2-3% with a maximum of 22% and 24% respectively.
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The problem of blue‐green algal toxin contamination of recreational waters and drinking water catchments is well described, as is the potential contamination of associated seafood. Algal contamination of Victorian waterways is now a... more
The problem of blue‐green algal toxin contamination of recreational waters and drinking water catchments is well described, as is the potential contamination of associated seafood. Algal contamination of Victorian waterways is now a widespread annual occurrence and, in some regions, the intersection of blooms and commercial fishing threatens the food safety of large numbers of people. Toxin levels which produce no observed adverse effect in animal studies were used to derive safe tolerable daily intake levels. These ‘acceptable levels’ were then modified to protect against potential acute health risks associated with short‐term exposures. National food surveys were used to derive likely seafood intakes and thus, in combination with ‘safe toxin levels’, health alert levels for seafood were formulated. During the summer of 2001 a bloom of Nodularia spumigena occurred in the Gippsland Lakes area of Southern Victoria. During the bloom, seafood samples were collected and nodularin concentrations were estimated. Nodularin concentrations reached levels of concern in mussels and in prawn viscera at cell counts as low as 30,000 cells/ml. Nodularin concentrations in the flesh of finfish remained low. Boiling the seafood redistributed toxin between viscera and flesh. The results were used to restrict some seafood harvesting. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 16: 468–471, 2001
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Research Interests: Geography, Environmental Science, Australia, MARINE POLLUTION, Agriculture, and 15 moreEnvironmental Monitoring, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Pesticide, Anthozoa, Permeability, Pesticides, Animals, Great Barrier Reef, Marine Environment, Polydimethylsiloxane, Pollutant, Passive sampler, Atrazine, and Dry Season
Research Interests: Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Australia, Biomarkers, Quantification, and 15 moreMedicine, Humans, Physical sciences, Ms, Liquid Chromatography, RESIDUES, Human Urine, Pilot Projects, LC MS, Illicit Drug Use, Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, Anabolism, Biochemistry and cell biology, Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences, and limit of detection
The increasing global prevalence of gout and diabetes has led to a rise in the use of their respective medications, allopurinol and metformin. These are excreted via urine as oxypurinol and metformin and are discharged into wastewater and... more
The increasing global prevalence of gout and diabetes has led to a rise in the use of their respective medications, allopurinol and metformin. These are excreted via urine as oxypurinol and metformin and are discharged into wastewater and the environment. Current environmental monitoring of those two polar chemicals requires labour intensive and potentially inefficient sample pre‐treatments, such as using solid‐phase extraction or freeze‐drying. This study validated a sensitive and simple method using direct‐injection LC–MS/MS for the simultaneous measurement of oxypurinol and metformin in wastewater. The final method utilised a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography together with simple filtration through 0.2 μm regenerated cellulose filter followed by dilution in acetonitrile with a dilution factor of 10. The developed method was validated with the limit of quantifications (LOQ) of 0.11 and 0.34 μg/L for metformin and oxypurinol, respectively. The new method was applied to 42 influent wastewater samples and 6 effluent samples collected from 6 Australian wastewater treatment plants. Both compounds were detected well above the LOQ at concentrations 29–214 μg/L in influent and 2–53 μg/L in effluent for metformin, and 24–248 μg/L in influent and 4–81 μg/L in effluent for oxypurinol, demonstrating its high applicability.
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Research Interests: Toxicology, Carbon, Environmental Health, Biology, Cyanobacteria, and 15 moreMedicine, Water Supply, Alkaloids, Sodium Hypochlorite, Toxin, Dissolved Organic Carbon, Chlorine, Open System, Organic Matter, C, Toxicon, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Closed system, Uracil, and Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences
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... RA McKenzie, JH Noble, LD Fabbro, GR Shaw, GK Ea-glesham, WA Wickramasinghe, JH Norton, AD Thomas, G. Driscoll, EC Butterworth and BL Birtwell, Aust. Vet. J. (in press) (2003). RGL Norris, AA Seawright, GR Shaw, MJ Smith, RK Chiswell... more
... RA McKenzie, JH Noble, LD Fabbro, GR Shaw, GK Ea-glesham, WA Wickramasinghe, JH Norton, AD Thomas, G. Driscoll, EC Butterworth and BL Birtwell, Aust. Vet. J. (in press) (2003). RGL Norris, AA Seawright, GR Shaw, MJ Smith, RK Chiswell and MR Moore, Environ. ...
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Understanding the impacts of herbicides on soil microbial communities is important, as these organisms mediate a wide range of ecosystem services. Here, we investigated whether the diversity and function of soil microbial communities were... more
Understanding the impacts of herbicides on soil microbial communities is important, as these organisms mediate a wide range of ecosystem services. Here, we investigated whether the diversity and function of soil microbial communities were significantly influenced by one-off applications of atrazine, diuron, fluazifop-P-butyl, haloxyfop-P-methyl and pendimethalin as pure compounds at their recommended doses over multiple time points (1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days). Phylogenetic marker gene sequencing revealed that none of the herbicides influenced the numbers of bacterial and archaeal taxa or the evenness of their abundances. Similarly, none of the herbicides influenced the composition of bacterial and archaeal communities, except for diuron, fluazifop-P-methyl and pendimethalin, which were associated with larger relative abundances of a small number of OTUs on day 30 only. Functionally, none of the herbicides significantly influenced fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis (FDA) and beta-glu...
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Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been used in large quantities for a variety of applications in Australian industry and household products. Through the course of their everyday use, PFASs enter the wastewater stream however current... more
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been used in large quantities for a variety of applications in Australian industry and household products. Through the course of their everyday use, PFASs enter the wastewater stream however current treatment processes provide only partial removal of these chemicals from wastewater. The release of treated effluent and re-use of biosolids represents an important point source of PFASs into the Australian environment yet the scale of PFAS release from Australian WWTPs is unknown. For the first time, influent, effluent and biosolids samples from 14 WWTPs across Australia were assessed for 9 PFASs and the national loads of these PFASs released from WWTPs estimated. Ʃ9PFASs ranged from 0.98 to 440 ng/L (influent), 21-560 ng/L (effluent) and 5.2-150 ng/g (biosolids). National loads of PFOA and PFOS in effluent were estimated at 65 kg and 26 kg per annum respectively. In biosolids, annual loads were estimated at 2 kg and 8 kg respectively. The continue...
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Research Interests: Environmental Science, Irrigation, Public Health, Pesticide, Sediment, and 3 moreContamination, Grazing, and E
A strain of Cylindrospermopsis (Cyanobacteria) isolated from a fishpond in Thailand was examined for its taxonomy based upon morphology and 16S rRNA gene sequence. It was also examined for production of the hepatotoxic cyanotoxin called... more
A strain of Cylindrospermopsis (Cyanobacteria) isolated from a fishpond in Thailand was examined for its taxonomy based upon morphology and 16S rRNA gene sequence. It was also examined for production of the hepatotoxic cyanotoxin called cylindrospermopsin (CYN) and deoxycylindrospermopsin (deoxy-CYN). The strain (CY-Thai) was identified as C. raciborskii (Woloszynska) Seenaya and Subba Raju based upon morphological examination which was confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequences and phylogenetic comparisons based upon its 16S rRNA gene. The alkaloid heptatotoxin CYN was confirmed using mouse bioassay, HPLC and HPLC-MS/MS while deoxy-CYN was confirmed using HPLC-MS/MS. The mouse bioassay gave a minimum lethal dose at 250mg dry weight cells/kg body weight within 24h and 125mg/kg at 72h, with signs of poisoning the same as in literature reports for CYN. HPLC chromatographic comparison of the CY-Thai toxin with standard CYN gave the same retention time and an absorbance maximum at 262nm. HPLC-MS/MS confirmed the presence of CYN (M+H 416) and deoxy-CYN (M+H 400). The CYN content in strain CY-Thai was estimated at 1.02mg/g and approximately 1/10 of this amount for deoxy-CYN. This is the first report from Asia of a CYN, deoxy-CYN producing Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii.
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Lai, FY, Prichard, J., Bruno, R., Ort, C., Gartner, C., Carter, S., Kirkbride, P., Hall, W., Eaglesham, G., Thai, P., Salinas, A. and Mueller, J. (2011). Measuring illicit substance use in the general population of Queensland through... more
Lai, FY, Prichard, J., Bruno, R., Ort, C., Gartner, C., Carter, S., Kirkbride, P., Hall, W., Eaglesham, G., Thai, P., Salinas, A. and Mueller, J. (2011). Measuring illicit substance use in the general population of Queensland through wastewater analysis. In: Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Geelong, Australia, (). 28-30 Sept 2011. ... Lai, FY Prichard, J. Bruno, R. Ort, C. Gartner, C. Carter, S. Kirkbride, P. Hall, W. Eaglesham, G. Thai, P. Salinas, A. Mueller, J.
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About the Awwa Research Foundation The Awwa Research Foundation (AwwaRF) is a member-supported, international, nonprofit organization that sponsors research to enable water utilities, public health agencies, and other professionals to... more
About the Awwa Research Foundation The Awwa Research Foundation (AwwaRF) is a member-supported, international, nonprofit organization that sponsors research to enable water utilities, public health agencies, and other professionals to provide safe and affordable ...
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Lyngbya wollei (Farlow ex Gomont) Speziale and Dyck is a common mat-forming benthic cyanobacterium from freshwater habitats. We found that two populations from southeast Queensland (Australia) produce the potent cyanotoxin... more
Lyngbya wollei (Farlow ex Gomont) Speziale and Dyck is a common mat-forming benthic cyanobacterium from freshwater habitats. We found that two populations from southeast Queensland (Australia) produce the potent cyanotoxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN) and its analogue, ...