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A real-time biomonitoring system to detect arsenic toxicity by valve movement in freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea

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Abstract

Arsenic (As) is the element of greatest ecotoxicological concern in aquatic environments. Effective monitoring and diagnosis of As pollution via a biological early warning system is a great challenge for As-affected regions. The purpose of this study was to synthesize water chemistry-based bioavailability and valve daily rhythm in Corbicula fluminea to design a biomonitoring system for detecting waterborne As. We integrated valve daily rhythm dynamic patterns and water chemistry-based Hill dose–response model to build into a programmatic mechanism of inductance-based valvometry technique for providing a rapid and cost-effective dynamic detection system. A LabVIEW graphic control program in a personal computer was employed to demonstrate completely the functional presentation of the present dynamic system. We verified the simulated dissolved As concentrations based on the valve daily rhythm behavior with published experimental data. Generally, the performance of this proposed biomonitoring system demonstrates fairly good applicability to detect waterborne As concentrations when the field As concentrations are less than 1 mg L−1. We also revealed that the detection times were dependent on As exposure concentrations. This biomonitoring system could particularly provide real-time transmitted information on the waterborne As activity under various aquatic environments. This parsimonious C. fluminea valve rhythm behavior-based real-time biomonitoring system presents a valuable effort to promote the automated biomonitoring and offers early warnings on potential ecotoxicological risks in regions with elevated As exposure concentrations.

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Acknowledgments

The Authors acknowledge the National Science Council of Republic of China for financial support under the Grant NSC 95-2313-B-002-052-MY3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan, ROC

    Wei-Yu Chen & Chung-Min Liao

  2. Department of Biomechatronic Engineering, National Ilan University, Ilan, 20641, Taiwan, ROC

    Li-John Jou & Suz-Hsin Chen

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  1. Wei-Yu Chen
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  2. Li-John Jou
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  3. Suz-Hsin Chen
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  4. Chung-Min Liao
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Correspondence to Chung-Min Liao.

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Chen, WY., Jou, LJ., Chen, SH. et al. A real-time biomonitoring system to detect arsenic toxicity by valve movement in freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea . Ecotoxicology 21, 1177–1187 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-012-0872-9

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