Using higher organisms in biological early warning systems for real-time toxicity detection

Many biological early warning systems (BEWS) have been developed in recent years that evaluate the physiological and behavioral responses of whole organisms to water quality. Using a fish ventilatory monitoring system developed at the US Army Centre for Environmental Health Research as an example, we illustrate the operation of a BEWS at a groundwater treatment facility. During a recent 12-month period, the fish ventilatory system was operational for 99% of the time that the treatment facility was on-line. Effluent-exposed fish responded as a group about 2.8% of the time. While some events were due to equipment problems or non-toxic water quality variations, the fish system did indicate effluent anomalies that were subsequently identified and corrected. The fish monitoring BEWS increased treatment facility engineers' awareness of effluent quality and provided an extra measure of assurance to regulators and the public. Many operational and practical considerations for whole organism BEWS are similar to those for cell- or tissue-based biosensors. An effective biomonitoring system may need to integrate the responses of several biological and chemical sensors to achieve desired operational goals. Future development of an 'electronic canary', analogous to the original canary in the coal mine, could draw upon advances in signal processing and communication to establish a network of sensors in a watershed and to provide useful real-time information on water quality.