We examined whether contaminants present in surface waters could be prioritized for further assessment by linking the presence of specific chemicals to gene expression changes in exposed fish. Fathead minnows were deployed in cages for 2, 4, or 8 days at three locations near two different waste water treatment plant discharge sites in the Saint Louis Bay, Duluth, MN and one upstream control site. The biological impact of 51 chemicals detected in the surface water was determined using biochemical endpoints, exposure activity ratios for biological and estrogenic responses; known chemical:gene interactions from biological pathways and knowledge bases, and analysis of the co-variance of ovary gene expression with surface water chemistry. Thirty-two chemicals were significantly linked by co-variance with expressed genes. No estrogenic impact on biochemical endpoints was observed in male or female minnows. However, bisphenol A was identified by chemical:gene co-variation as the most impactful chemical across the exposure sites. This was consistent with identification of estrogenic effects on gene expression, high exposure activity ratios across all test sites, and historical analysis of the area. Overall, this approach appears useful in examining the impacts of complex mixtures on fish and offers a potential route in linking chemical exposure to adverse outcomes that reduce population sustainability.

This dataset is associated with the following publication: Perkins, E., T. Habib, B. Escalon, J. Cavallin, L. Thomas, M. Weberg, M. Hughes, K. Jensen, M. Kahl, D. Villeneuve, G. Ankley, and N. Garcia-Reyero. Prioritization of contaminants of emerging concern in wastewater treatment plant discharges using chemical: Gene interactions in caged fish. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, USA, 51(15): 8701-8712, (2017).