INVESTIGATING AUTOMATED BIOMONITORING AS A MANAGEMENT TOOL TOWARD THE ELIMINATION OF POLLUTANTS THAT ADVERSELY AFFECT AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.

THERE IS A NEED TO MANAGE BETTER THE INPUT OF POLLUTANTS WHICH ADVERSELY AFFECT THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT. ALTHOUGH MANAGEMENT PRACTICES CURRENTLY USED HAVE PROVIDED INFORMATION ON TOXICITY POTENTIAL THROUGH THE USE OF BIOASSAYS DONE ON DISCRETE SAMPLES, MORE VALUABLE INFORMATION WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR MANAGEMENT DECISIONS IF CONTINUOUS REAL-TIME BIOMONITORING WERE EMPLOYED. THE MAJOROBJECTIVES OF THIS ENDEAVOR ARE TO: (1) ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF USING FISH VENTILATORY RESPONSE PROFILES (VRPS) IN AN AUTOMATED AND CONTINUOUSLY MONITORED SYSTEM TO RAPIDLY DETECT TOXICITY OF COMPLEX EFFLUENTS THEREBY PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT FROM POLLUTION EPISODES, (2) TO ASSESS THE USE OF FISH VRPS TO DETERMINE OR PREDICT THE CAUSE OF TOXICITY (CLASS OF COMPOUND) WHEN TOXICITY OCCURS, AND (3) TO REFINE OUR EXISTING ALGORITHMS TO INCLUDE MORE SUBTLE FACETS OF THE VRP INCLUDING COUGH BEHAVIOR, FISH ACTIVITY PATTERN, AND ORIENTATION BEHAVIOR IN ORDER TO BETTER DISTINGUISH DIFFERENT VRPS. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT VRP WILL CHANGE RAPIDLY ENOUGH TO TOXICANTS TO PROVIDE AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM AND THAT THE VRPS WILL BE CHARACTERISTIC OF DIFFERENT CLASSES OF COMPOUNDS CAUSING TOXICITY. IF PHASE I RESEARCH IS SUCCESSFUL, THIS WORK WILLENABLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM WHICH WOULD BE A USEFUL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT TOOL WITH THE POTENTIAL TO NOT ONLYPROVIDE CONTINUOUS AND AUTOMATED BIOMONITORING OF COMPLEX WASTEWATER TOXICITY, BUT TO ALSO AID IN IDENTIFICATION OF THE COMPOUNDS CAUSING TOXICITY.