
Paul D JonesUniversity of Saskatchewan | U of S · School of Environment and Sustainability
Paul D Jones
BSc(Hons) First Class Zoology, PhD Biochemistry
About
281
Publications
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Introduction
I am formally trained in Zoology and Biochemistry but have focused on environmental toxicology since I was an undergraduate. I utilize the techniques of my formal disciplines, and others as needed, to address issues related to the fate and effects of chemicals in the environment.
Additional affiliations
January 1999 - October 2006
April 1992 - December 1998
Environmental Science & Research (ESR)
Position
- Science Leader Ecotoxicology
April 1990 - April 1992
Publications
Publications (281)
While previous studies have found that unknown natural and synthetic organo-bromine compounds (NSOBCs) contributed more than 99% of the total organic bromine (Br) in the environment, there was no efficient method for untargeted screening to identify NSOBCs in environmental samples. A novel, untargeted method for identifying, based on ultra-high res...
A whole-animal tissue section in situ hybridization (ISH) system with radio-labeled probes was developed to detect differential gene expression among tissues of the small, oviparous teleost fish, Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Because of its tissue- and gender-specific expression, gonadal aromatase (CYP19a) was selected as a model gene to demon...
The environmental distribution of fluorinated organic compounds (FOCs) has been less well described than the other halogenated hydrocarbons such as chlorinated and brominated compounds. This is despite the fact that FOCs have been used in a wide variety of products and applications for more than 50 years. FOCs are resistant to hydrolysis, photolysi...
Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) accumulates in the liver and blood of exposed organisms. The potential for these surfactant molecules to interfere with hormone/protein interactions in blood is of concern given the importance of these interactions. The PFOS binding to serum proteins was investigated by assessing its ability to displace a variet...
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) is a U.S. Army facility located northeast of Denver, Colorado that has been listed on the National Priorities List (NPL). It is currently being re-mediated under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorizatio...
Distributions of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and fecal viral biomarkers between solid and liquid phases of wastewater are largely unknown. Herein, distributions of SARS-CoV-2, Pepper Mild Mottle Virus (PMMoV), and F-RNA bacteriophage group II (FRNAPH-II) were determined by viral RNA RT-qPCR. Comparison of viral reco...
The search for better tools for interpreting and understanding wastewater surveillance has continued since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has continued to mutate, thus complicating the interpretation of surveillance results. We assessed the Omicron vari...
Major aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists were identified in extracts of blubber, liver, and muscle from six long-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus capensis) and one fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) collected from Korean coastal waters using effect-directed analysis. Results of the H4IIE-luc bioassay indicated that the polar fractions of blub...
Wastewater surveillance (WS) helps to improve the understanding of the spread of communicable diseases in communities. WS can assist public health decision-makers in the design and implementation of timely mitigation measures. There is an increased need to use reliable, cost-effective, simple, and rapid WS systems, given traditional analytical (or...
Wastewater monitoring and epidemiology have seen renewed interest during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there is an increasing need to normalize wastewater-derived viral loads in local populations. Chemical tracers, both exogenous and endogenous compounds, have proven to be more stable and reliable for normalization than biological indi...
Wastewater surveillance (WWS) is useful to better understand the spreading of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in communities, which can help design and implement suitable mitigation measures. The main objective of this study was to develop the Wastewater Viral Load Risk Index (WWVLRI) for three Saskatchewan cities to offer a simple metric to in...
Exposure of fishes to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) during early development can induce multigenerational and transgenerational effects on reproduction. Both in vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated that the brominated flame retardant, 1,2,5,6-tetrabromocyclooctane (TBCO), is an EDC. The present study investigated whether TBCO has mut...
Cyprosulfamide is a herbicide safener that works against the injurious effects of herbicides such as isoxaflutole, dicamba, nicosulfuron, tembotrione, thiencarbazone-methyl. However, its sorption behaviour in soils and toxicity to aquatic organisms are yet to be thoroughly examined. This study determined the octanol-water partition coefficient, sor...
Brominated disinfection by-products (Br-DBPs) can form during chlorination of drinking water in treatment plants (DWTP). Regulations exist for a small subset of Br-DBPs; However, hundreds of unregulated Br-DBPs have been detected and limited information exists on their occurrence, concentrations, and seasonal trends. Here, a data-independent precur...
Monitoring the communal incidence of COVID-19 is important for both government and residents of an area to make informed decisions. However, continuous reliance on one means of monitoring might not be accurate because of biases introduced by government policies or behaviours of residents. Wastewater surveillance was employed to monitor concentratio...
There are no standardized protocols for quantifying severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater to date, especially for population normalization. Here, a pipeline was developed, applied, and assessed to quantify SARS-CoV-2 and key variants of concern (VOCs) RNA in wastewater at Saskatoon, Canada. Normalization approac...
Reptiles represent the least-studied group of vertebrates with regards to ecotoxicology and no empirical toxicity data existed for dioxin-like chemicals (DLCs). This lack of toxicity data represents a significant uncertainty in ecological risk assessments of this taxon. Therefore, the present study assessed early-life sensitivity to select DLCs and...
Due to their relatively large production and few restrictions on uses, novel substitutes for historically used per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are being used and accumulating in the environment. However, due to a lack of information on their toxicological properties their hazards and risks are hard to estimate. Before fertilization, oocy...
The microbiome of the gut is vital for homeostasis of hosts with its ability to detoxify and activate toxicants, as well as signal to the immune and nervous systems. However, in the field of environmental toxicology, the gut microbiome has only recently been identified as a measurable indicator for exposure to environmental pollutants. Antidepressa...
Activities of gut microbiomes are often overlooked in assessments of ecotoxicological effects of environmental contaminants. Effects of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) on active gut microbiomes of juvenile fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were investigated. Fish were exposed for two weeks, to concentrations of 0, 1, 1...
Safeners are a group of chemicals applied with herbicides to protect crop plants from potential adverse effects of agricultural products used to kill weeds in monocotyledonous crops. Various routes of dissipation of safeners from their point of applications were evaluated. Despite the large numbers of safeners (over 18) commercially available and t...
Their unique hydrological and climatic conditions render surface water systems in the southern Canadian Prairies at an elevated risk from exposure to contaminants released from municipal wastewater effluents (MWWEs). The aim of this study was to characterize the potential health effects and their underlying molecular mechanisms in populations of fa...
The brominated flame retardant, 1,2,5,6-tetrabromocyclooctane (TBCO), has been shown to decrease fecundity in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) and there is indirect evidence from analysis of the transcriptome and proteome that this effect might be due to impaired oogenesis. An assay for disruption of oocyte maturation by chemical stressors has not...
Aqueous Film Forming Foams (AFFFs) are used in firefighting and are sources of per‐ and poly‐fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the environment through surface runoff and groundwater contamination at defense and transportation sites. Little is known regarding the toxicity and bioaccumulation of newer AFFF formulations containing novel PFAS. To mimic...
Arctic warming associated with global climate change poses a significant threat to populations of wildlife in the Arctic. Since lipids play a vital role in adaptation of organisms to variations in temperature, high‐resolution mass spectrometry based lipidomics can provide insights into adaptive responses of organisms to a warmer environment in the...
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) can enter aquatic environments where they can have adverse effects on organisms. The BFR, 1,2,5,6-Tetrabromocyclooctane (TBCO), has been introduced as a potential replacement for the major use BRF, Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). However, little is known about effects of TBCO on aquatic organisms. Using zebrafish (...
Transdisciplinary researchers collaborate with diverse partners outside of academia to tackle sustainability problems. The patterns and practices of social interaction and the contextual nature of transdisciplinary research result in different performance expectations than traditional, curiosity-driven research. Documenting patterns of interaction...
The microbiome has been described as an additional host “organ” with well-established beneficial roles. However, the effects of exposures to chemicals on both structure and function of the gut microbiome of fishes are understudied. To determine effects of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a model persistent organic pollutant, on structural shifts of gut microb...
The current study represents a comprehensive investigation of the occurrence and fates of trenbolone acetate (TBA) and metabolites 17α-trenbolone (17α-TBOH), 17β-TBOH, and trendione (TBO); melengesterol acetate (MGA); and the less commonly studied β-andrenergic agonist ractopamine (RAC) in two 8 month cattle feeding trials and simulated rainfall ru...
In July 2016, a Husky Energy pipeline spilled 225,000 L of diluted heavy crude oil, with a portion of the oil entering the North Saskatchewan River near Maidstone, SK, Canada. This event provided a unique opportunity to assess potential effects of a crude oil constituent (namely polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs) on a possible sensitive indica...
Understanding internal dose metrics is integral to adequately assess effects environmental contaminants might have on aquatic wildlife, including fish. In silico toxicokinetic (TK) models are a leading approach for quantifying internal exposure metrics for fishes; however, they often do not adequately consider chemicals that are actively biotransfo...
Organic fractions and extracts of willow (Salix safsaf) leaves, produced by sequential solvent extraction as well as infusion and decoction, exhibited anticancer potencies in four cancerous cell lines, including breast (MCF-7), colorectal (HCT-116), cervical (HeLa) and liver (HepG2). Results of the MTT assay revealed that chloroform (CHCl3) and eth...
There is growing concern about possible effects of exploitation of the Alberta Oil Sands on the ambient environment, including possible effects on populations of fishes in the Athabasca River and further downstream in Lake Athabasca and the Slave River. In this study, concentrations of metals in dorsal muscle tissue of five fishes, goldeye, norther...
In the Oil Sands Regions of Alberta, Canada, Indigenous reassertion of rights and responsibilities has lead to a renewed leadership in monitoring the effects of industries on various environment receptors. This study, conducted with Cold Lake First Nations, Alberta (CLFN), sought to explore local concerns regarding fish consumption safety and popul...
Uptake and effects of ionizable organic chemicals (IOCs) that are weak acids in aqueous solution by fish can differ as a function of pH. While the pH-dependent behavior of select IOCs is well-understood, complex mixtures of IOCs, e.g., from oil sands process-affected water (OSPW), have not yet been studied systematically. Here, we established an in...
Because compounds accumulate through dry periods and enter aquatic systems in just a few seasonal events such as snowmelt and summer storms, surface waters in semi-arid, cold regions, such as the Canadian Prairies, are particularly vulnerable to loading of contaminant from runoff events from surfaces. This study assessed concentrations of metals an...
Brominated azo dyes (BADs) have been identified as predominant indoor brominated pollutants in daycare dust, thus their potential health risk to children is of concern. However, the toxicities of BADs remain elusive. In this study, the toxicokinetics of two predominant BADs, Disperse Blue 373 (DB373) and Disperse Violet 93 (DV93), and their suspect...
Recent advances in mass spectrometry have facilitated chemical characterization and profiling of complex environmental mixtures such as oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) and identification of previously unresolved chemicals. However, because OSPW is a complex mixture of salts, metals, suspended particulate matter and dissolved organics, extra...
Dust samples were collected from four indoor environments, including childcare facilities, houses, hair salons, and a research facility from the USA and were analyzed for brominated compounds using full scan liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry. A total of 240 brominated compounds were detected in these dust samples, and elementa...
Freshwaters worldwide are under increasing pressure from anthropogenic activities and changing climate. Unfortunately, many inland waters lack sufficient long-term monitoring to assess environmental trends. Analysis of sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) is emerging as a means to reconstruct the past occurrence of microbial communities of inland wate...
The temporal and spatial trends in sediment of 22 poly- and perfluorinated (PFAS) compounds were investigated in the southern Great Lakes Erie and Ontario as well as Lake St. Clair. Surface concentrations measured by Ponar grab samples indicated a trend for greater concentrations near to urban sites. Mean concentrations ∑22PFAS were 15.6, 18.2 and...
Cell-based bioanalytical tools are considered one alternative to overcome limitations of sensitivities of instrumental, analytical chemistry for monitoring estrogenic chemicals in the environment. Because these tools also reflect non-additive interactions of chemicals in mixtures, their outcomes often deviate from outcomes of chemical analytical ap...
People spend significant time indoors in homes, schools, offices, and it is likely that they experience prolonged exposures to chem. compds. in indoor environments. Among several potential routes, unintentional ingestion of house dust is a pathway of exposure of humans, esp. children to synthetic chems. In this study, untargeted screening of bromin...
In the current study, by combining ultra-high resolution (UHR) MS¹ spectra, MS² spectra, and derivatization, three hydroxylated isomers of 2-ethylhexyl tetrabromobenzoate (OH-TBB) were identified in Firemaster® 550 and BZ-54 technical products. Also, a new LC-UHRMS method, using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), was developed for sim...
Across the circumpolar world, intensive anthropogenic activities in the southern reaches of many large, northward-flowing rivers can cause sediment contamination in the downstream depositional environment. The influence of ice cover on concentrations of inorganic contaminants in bed sediment (i.e., sediment quality) is unknown in these rivers where...
Indigenous community members along the Slave River in Canada have voiced their concerns for the health of ecosystems under pressure from resource extraction, hydroelectric development and global climate change. We present a test case of traditional knowledge and scientific results about the spawning and migration patterns of fish in the Slave River...
Characterization of toxicological profiles by use of traditional targeted strategies might underestimate the risk of environmental mixtures. Unbiased identification of prioritized compounds provides a promising strategy for meeting regulatory needs. In this study, untargeted screening of brominated compounds in house dust was conducted using a data...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are released to the environment from oil sands operations and from natural sources in Alberta, Canada. Concentrations of 16 USEPA priority PAHs were measured in tissues of fishes collected from three locations on the Athabasca River in Alberta and two downstream locations on the Slave River in the Northwest T...
Tracking the uptake and transfer of toxic chemicals, such as mercury (Hg), in aquatic systems is challenging when many top predators are highly mobile and may therefore be exposed to chemicals in areas other than their location of capture, confounding interpretation of bioaccumulation trends. Here we show how the application of a less commonly used...
Cumulative environmental impacts driven by anthropogenic stressors lead to disproportionate effects on indigenous communities that are reliant on land and water resources. Understanding and counteracting these effects requires knowledge from multiple sources. Yet the combined use of Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Scientific Knowledge (SK) has both...
Characterization of toxicological profiles by use of traditional targeted strategies might underestimate the risk of environmental mixtures. Unbiased identification of prioritized compounds provides a promising strategy to meet regulatory needs. In this study, untargeted screening of brominated compounds in house dust was conducted using a data-ind...
The majority of halogenated organic compounds present in the environment remain unidentified. To address this data gap, we recently developed an untargeted method (data-independent precursor isolation and characteristic fragment; DIPIC-Frag) for identification of unknown organo-bromine compounds. In this study, the method was adapted to enable unta...
Identification of toxic components of complex mixtures is a challenge. Here, oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) was used as a case study to identify those toxic components with a known protein target. Organic chemicals in OSPW exhibit dose-dependent activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) at concentrations less than...
Currently, the novel brominated flame retardant, 1,2,5,6-tetrabromocyclooctane (TBCO) is considered as a potential replacement for hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). Therefore, use of TBCO could increase in the near future. To assess potential toxicological risks to aquatic organisms, embryos of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) were exposed to 10, 100...
To examine the uptake of dioxin-like compounds (DLCs), common roaches (Rutilus rutilus) were exposed for 28 days to differently contaminated sediments from two major European rivers in a purpose-built facility. Dietary transfer of DLCs was investigated by exposing fish to sediments inoculated or non-inoculated with black worms (Lumbriculus variegat...
Previously unreported natural and synthetic organo-bromine compounds (NSOBCs) have been reported to contribute more than 99% of total organic bromine (TOB) in various matrices of the environment. We recently developed a novel untargeted method (data-independent precursor isolation and characteristic fragment, DIPIC-Frag) and identified ~2000 NSOBCs...
The Slave river Delta is one of Canada' s largest freshwater delta systems. The Slave river is fed by the Athabasca and Peace rivers which flow through Northern Alberta. Increased industrial activity in the Peace/ Athabasca river basin has been a source of ongoing concern to First Nation and M etis communities as the Slave river/ Delta are part of...
Narrow river-valley reservoirs are typically spatially heterogeneous. Little is known about how (a) water quality and algal community composition change longitudinally along a reservoir and (b) how algal composition and production change as a reservoir ages. To address these unknowns, multiple sediment cores were collected from mid-channel location...
Concentrations of products of biotransformation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PBPAH) were measured in bile of five fishes of nutritional, cultural and ecological relevance from the Athabasca/Slave river system. Samples were collected in Alberta and the Northwest Territories, Canada, during three seasons. As a measure of concentrations of PBP...
Year-round monitoring for perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) along the west coast of South Korea targeting
long-term changes in water and coastal organisms has been conducted since 2008. In this study, we present
the most recent 5-years of accumulated data and scrutinize the relationship between concentrations
in water and biota highlighting bioaccumulat...
Birds exposed to endocrine disrupting chemicals during development could be susceptible to neurological and other physiological changes affecting migratory behaviours. We investigated the effects of ecologically relevant levels of Aroclor 1254, a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture, on moult, fattening, migratory activity and orientation in juve...
Ultra-High Resolution LC/mass spectrometry (LC-UHRMS; Thermo Fisher Q-Exactive) was used to identify two novel isomers of hydroxylated bis(2-ethylhexyl)-tetrabromophthalate (OH-TBPH) which were unexpectedly observed in a commercial standard of TBPH. By combining UHR mass spectra (MS1), the mass errors to theoretical [TBPH-Br+O]- were 2.1 and 1.0 pp...
Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS; Chemical Abstract Service Registry Number: 2795-39-3) belongs to a class of perfluorinated compounds that are fully fluorinated and have a terminal sulfonyl moiety. Due to its unique chemical properties, it has been used in materials such as wetting agents, lubricants, corrosion inhibitors, stain-resistant treatment...
Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is primarily used as a reactive flame retardant in epoxy resin circuit boards. TBBPA is also used in polycarbonate and ether polyester resins and is used as a flame retardant in plastics, paper, and textiles, and as a plasticizer in adhesives and coatings. Being covalently bound to the polymer limits the exposure to un...
Although the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Swift Current Creek, SK, Canada carries out complete secondary treatment followed by UV disinfection, a suite of chemicals is released into the receiving water. In addition, the City of Swift Current used lagoon treatment for 27 years prior to the construction of WWTP and the lagoon could also pose...
Major oil sands open-pit mining and extraction operations exist in the Fort McMurray/Fort MacKay area, adjacent to the Athabasca River, in Alberta, Canada. Fish is a major cultural and economic resource for First
Nations communities in the area; thus, concern about possible contamination of fish by PAHs exists. The aim of this research was to descr...
The Slave river Delta is one of Canada’s largest freshwater delta systems. The Slave river is fed by the Athabasca and Peace rivers which flow through Northern Alberta. Increased industrial activity in the Peace/Athabasca river basin has been a source of ongoing concern to First Nation and Metis communities as the Slave river/Delta are part of thei...