The US-Mexico border divides the communities of Palomas, Chihuahua and Columbus, New Mexico, but they remain intimately linked. Both communities suffer from inadequate social services, poor public infrastructure, high unemployment and high poverty rates. To confront these challenges, Palomas and Columbus work together, sharing resources like hospitals, firefighters, and even schools. Palomas and Columbus also share another vital resource—groundwater. In the parched Chihuahuan desert, the communities depend on this groundwater as their sole water supply source, yet their aquifer is contaminated with arsenic and fluoride. Local governments acknowledged this contamination as early as the 1970s, but it was not until the 2000s that they received the needed reverse osmosis technology and water/wastewater infrastructure to ameliorate household exposure to water contamination. This thesis compares how Columbus and Palomas have addressed water insecurity over a twenty-year period from 1996-2016, using a 1996 study as the baseline (Tanski et al. 1998). New data include a household survey of 152 households, 60 semi-structured interviews, and participant observations of water practices collected during two months of fieldwork in the summer of 2016. The central research questions of this thesis are Q1) What causes household water insecurity on the US-Mexico border? and Q2) How can water policymakers and providers more equitably provide users with access to clean, reliable, and affordable drinking water? From a human development perspective, water security is defined as having an adequate supply of reliable and affordable water for a healthy life. This thesis uses a political ecological lens to more critically examine how water security connects to socio-political processes of water governance and power imbalances. Following Jepson (2014), this thesis argues that water (in)security is produced by problems in water access, water quality, and water affect (or water distress) and unfolds within a complex, hydrosocial landscape. Applying Jepson’s (2014) water security typology to Columbus and Palomas revealed that each local water utility adopted a distinct approach to addressing groundwater contamination, predicated on their financial and social resources, and structured by national and bi-national water policies as well as their institutional parameters. The survey found household water security has improved in terms of water access and reliability. But, centralized water filtration technology increased costs and reduced affordability in Columbus, while decentralized water filtration technology inadequately resolved household water supply contamination in Palomas. Thus, despite the technological improvements, households remain unevenly exposed to water contamination and costs. This raises concern about approaches to water security, which should be more finely attuned to water equity. Water equity means the rights to access clean water are more equitably distributed within the communities, and there is greater recognition/participation of community members in decision making on water management.

Phytostabilization offers a less expensive alternative to traditional cap and plant methods for containing metalliferous mine tailings to prevent wind erosion and contamination of nearby communities and the environment. However, plant establishment during phytostabilization of pyritic legacy mine tailings in semiarid regions is challenging due to particularly extreme conditions including low pH, low organic carbon, low nutrients, and high toxic metal(loid) concentrations. Microorganisms drive major biogeochemical cycles in soils, however, the roles microorganisms play at the root – soil interface during phytostabilization, particularly in relation to plant health and metal immobilization, are not yet fully understood. The aims of this dissertation are to focus on bacterial communities associated with the roots of buffalo grass used in the phytostabilization of pyritic metalliferous mine tailings to: i) characterize bacterial diversity and communities of rhizosphere and bulk substrate, ii) delineate associations between rhizoplane bacterial colonization patterns and environmental and plant status parameters, and iii) develop an in situ method to visually assess associations between roots, bacteria, and metals. Key findings indicate that after addition of a compost amendment to alleviate the plant-growth inhibiting characteristics of mine tailings, rhizosphere and bulk substrate contain a diverse, plant-growth supporting bacterial community. As substrate re-acidifies due to compost erosion, an emergence of an iron (Fe)- and sulfur (S)-oxidizer and Fe-reducer dominated, less diverse community develops in the bulk and rhizosphere substrate, thus posing a threat to successful plant establishment. However, even at low pH, some plant-growth-promoting bacteria are still evident in the rhizosphere. On the rhizoplane (root surface), the relative abundance of metabolically active bacteria was positively correlated with plant health, verifying the strong association between plant health and bacteria. Furthermore, pH showed a strong association with the relative abundance of Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria on the rhizoplane. In relation to microbe-metal interactions on the root surface, results showed that Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria colocalized with Fe-plaque and arsenic (As) contaminant on the root surface, indicating their potential role in adsorbing or cycling of these metal(loid)s. Developing a more thorough understanding of bacteria-root-metal interactions in relation to plant health and metal immobilization can help to improve phytostabilization efforts and success.

Sawmills which conducted dipping operations is a breach where previously used chemicals mean that you generally can expect to find contaminated areas. To investigate contaminated areas the Swedish environmental protection agency developed a method for investigation of polluted areas (MIFO). The purpose of a MIFO analysis is to provide a unified approach and risk classification system for polluted areas. The aim of this thesis it to perform a soil survey according to MIFO phase 2 (general investigations) at the former sawmill in Lövsele, Västerbotten county. The study is based on assumptions about the presence of dioxins in the area, due to the previous use of the wood preservative Ky-5. Dioxins are dangerous substances and are considered poisonous for both humans and the environment. The field study was conducted 30 September 2016 in 8 selected points where the greatest risk to find dioxins were considers to exist after completion of background investigations. 9 samples were the chosen for analysis by ALS Scandinavia AB. The completed analysis shows that pollution levels above the guideline values of both sensitive land use (KM) and less sensitive land use (MKM) were discovered in 7 out of 9 analyzed samples. The MIFO analysis was conducted to answer questions about the pollution hazards, pollution level, distribution conditions and the sensitivity and protection value in the area. The result of the MIFO-analysis is evaluated as class 1, very high risk to human health and the environment. Further studies should therefore be conducted to determine the pollution situation in the area and to provide data for remediation measures to reduce the risk to human health and the environment.

Healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) are a complex and multi-factorial problem associated with high morbidity, mortality, and cost. Toothbrushes (TBs) may be at risk for contamination with potential pathogenic microorganisms (PPMs) from the patient care environment or autoinnoculation from the patient. We focused on three PPMs: multiply resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin resistant Enterococcus (VRE), and Acinetobacter. Specific aims were to (1) describe environmental factors associated with TB contamination in the ICU; (2) describe the relationship between TB contamination and oral colonization in critically ill adults.

Understanding the impacts of explosive contamination on vegetation is key to understanding explosives behavior in the environment. I quantified shrub growth responses to 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,35-triazine (RDX) soil contamination across three life stages and I hypothesized that RDX would have the greatest impact on seed germination. Morella cerifera seeds were germinated on soils amended with RDX up to 1500 mg RDX kg-1 dry soil. Juvenile and adult individuals were exposed for 6 weeks to soil amended with RDX up to 750 and 1500 mg RDX kg-1 dry soil, respectively. Morphological responses were quantified for juveniles while physiological measurements were quantified for adults. RDX induced a significant response in all age groups and, in accordance with the hypothesis, germination was the most impacted of the three stages. Impacts varied by concentration in addition to life stage, showing that many variables influence plant response to RDX.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

The worldwide occurrence of sites contaminated with toxic metals and the associated high costs of remediating them using chemical and mechanical methods have led to calls to develop inexpensive and sustainable approaches based on the use of plants that naturally accumulate large amounts of metals in their tissues. The ability of plants to remediate metals has been rigorously studied and some species have been identified as excellent phytoremediators. However, the growth of phytoremediators is often retarded under high soil metal concentrations, rendering them ineffective. Meanwhile, some plants do not have remediating abilities but are capable of growing in contaminated environments with little or no sign of stress. Despite the volume of research dedicated to the screening and evaluation of phytoremediators, major questions remain about why some plants survive but do not remediate while the growth of phytoremediators is mostly hindered. The growth and metal-remediating efficiency of plants exposed to toxic concentrations of metals can be enhanced by inoculating phytoremediating plants with certain bacteria but the mechanisms behind this process remain unclear. Furthermore, the use of leguminous plants to improve the growth of a target plant under a mixed planting system has long been recognised as an effective yield-enhancing cropping system. However, the possibility of a non-remediating but tolerant leguminous plant conferring metal tolerance to a phytoremediator has not been explored. This thesis reports results from repeated glasshouse and lab-based growth experiments on the phytoremediating plant Brassica juncea exposed to 400 – 600 mg Zn kg-1. The aim was to investigate the abilities of two plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) species Pseudomonas brassicacearum and Rhizobium leguminosarum, and a leguminous plant Vicia sativa to promote B. juncea growth and enhance remediation of Zn-contaminated soil. B. juncea plant roots were analysed using synchrotron based micro-focus X-ray Fluorescence (μXRF) imaging and X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (μXANES) analysis to probe Zn speciation. P. brassicacearum exhibited the poorest plant growth promoting ability, while R. leguminosarum alone and in combination with P. brassicacearum significantly enhanced B. juncea growth and Zn bioaccumulation. X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) analysis showed that reduced plant growth was due to root accumulation of Zn as Zn sulphate, Zn oxalate and Zn polygalacturonic acids. The better growth and increased metal accumulation observed in plants inoculated with R. leguminosarum and its combination with P. brassicacearum was attributed to root storage of Zn in the chelated forms of Zn phytate and Zn cysteine. A subcellular analysis of plant root also showed that the PGPB enhanced tolerance to Zn contamination by enhancing epidermal Zn compartmentalisation depending on the nature of root colonization, and induced changes in Zn speciation to less toxic Zn species in the epidermis and endodermis of plant root. The thesis therefore identifies enhanced Zn compartmentalization at the root epidermis and bacterial mediated changes in Zn toxicity through changes in Zn speciation as key complimentary mechanisms of plant growth promotion and enhanced Zn accumulation in plants by PGPB. Further experiments investigating alternative phytoremediation strategies showed that the use of the leguminous plant V. sativa in a mixed planting system with B. juncea plants completely out performed the effects of bacteria in promoting the growth and remediation potential of B. juncea under Zn contamination. By combining PGPB with mixed planting, B. juncea recovered full growth while also achieving maximum phytoremediation efficiency. The novel legume assistedmicrobial phytoremediation method that is reported in this thesis is the first to demonstrate complete plant growth recovery in plants exposed to 400 – 450 mg kg-1 soil Zn contamination for 5 weeks. Survival of V. sativa was attributed to its root storage of Zn in the chelated forms of Zn histidine and cysteine whereas in the roots of stunted B. juncea plants the majority of Zn was present as Zn oxalate and toxic Zn sulphate. Although the use of natural and synthetic chelates has been reported to enhance phytoremediation, this thesis recommends a legume-assisted-microbialphytoremediation system as a more sustainable method for Zn bioremediation.

As dificuldades do reprocessamento dos endoscópicos gastrointestinais, o risco de contaminação e os casos de infecções representam desafios amplamente conhecidos na comunidade cientifica. Neste sentido, investigou-se o reprocessamento de endoscópios gastrointestinais subsidiado nos níveis de sujidade, contaminação microbiana e presença de biofilme. Trata-se de um experimento laboratorial realizado em três fases por meio da bioluminescência com adenosina trifosfato (ATP) para avaliação do nível de sujidade; polimerase chain reaction (PCR) para carga bacteriana e cultura microbiana para determinação do nível de contaminação. Ainda, avaliou-se as superfícies internas de canais de endoscópios por microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) quanto à presença de biofilme. A análise estatística dos dados foi subsidiada em medidas de tendência central, testes de Man-Whitney, Wilcoxon e Spearman, p<0,05, por meio do software IBM SPSS Statistics versão 23.0. A avaliação de 99 endoscópios antes e após limpeza manual demonstrou a eficácia do processo na redução de sujidade (p<0,001) e contaminação microbiana (p=0,03), inclusive com baixo percentual da amostra com micro-organismos viáveis. Dos 75 endoscópios avaliados após o reprocessamento evidenciou-se uma redução do nível de sujidade (todos com <50URL, interna e externamente); entretanto a presença de carga bacteriana foi de 3log de bactéria/mL e 10,6% de positividade das culturas. Os micro-organismos isolados dos lavados de endoscópios após o reprocessamento foram Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus hominis, Staphylococcus capitis, Roseomonas gilardii e Micrococcus luteus. Na avaliação dos canais de biópsia de endoscópios provenientes do Brasil observou-se maior contaminação do que os da Austrália (p<0,001). Todos os canais apresentaram biofilme e danos em suas superfícies, entretanto as amostras brasileiras apresentaram particularidades, como, presença de hemácias, neutrófilos e fungos. Assim, observou-se que apesar da baixa carga microbiana nos endoscópios há o risco potencial de infecção cruzada associado ao biofilme, ameaçando a qualidade e segurança do reprocessamento. Adiciona-se a necessidade de avanços tecnológicos e científicos contra o biofilme na prática do reprocessamento de endoscópios / The difficulties on gastrointestinal endoscope reprocessing, contamination risk and outbreaks are a recognized challenge in science. It was investigated gastrointestinal endoscope reprocessing for dirtiness, contamination level and presence of biofilm. Laboratorial experiment performed in three phases using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence for dirtiness evaluation; polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for bacterial load and microbial culture for contamination level evaluation. In addition, it was evaluated biofilm on endoscope channels internal surfaces by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Statistics analysis was performed by descriptive analysis, ManWhitney, Wilcoxon and Spearman tests, p<0,05, using IBM SPSS Statistics versão 23.0. Before and after cleaning analysis of 99 endoscopes showed it efficacy on reducing dirtiness (p<0,001) and microbial contamination level (p=0,03), including a small percentage of culturable microorganism. From 75 endoscopes tested after reprocessing demonstrated dirtiness level reduction (all samples <50RUL, from internal and external area); but, also, presence of bacterial load of 3 log of bacteria/mL and 10,6% of culture positive. The microorganisms isolated from endoscope flush after reprocessing were Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus hominis, Staphylococcus capitis, Roseomonas gilardii and Micrococcus luteus. Endoscope biopsy channel analysis showed that samples from Brazil had higher contamination level than the ones from Australia (p<0,001). All channels analyzed presented biofilm and damage on their surfaces, however Brazilian samples showed particularities, like, blood cells, neutrophils and fungus. So, ever with low microbial load on endoscopes there is a potential risk of crossinfection associated with biofilm, compromising reprocessing quality and safety. Additionally, there´s the need of scientific and technologic improvement on endoscope reprocessing against biofilm

[pt] A bílis de peixe é um fluido biológico com grande potencial como biomarcador de exposição ambiental a metais e misturas complexas. Este trabalho verificou o potencial desta matriz em situações de contaminação ambiental por metais e analisou aspectos proteômicos. Duas espécies de peixe (Mugil liza – Tainhas, e Tilapia rendalli – Tilápias) foram coletadas de diferentes locais. Indivíduos de tilápia foram expostos a concentrações sub-letais de Cu em laboratório. A bílis foi analisada com relação ao seu conteúdo de elementos-traço (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Mn), e testes estatísticos demonstram que esta matriz pode ser utilizada para biomonitoramento de exposição de metais ao invés do fígado, sendo mais vantajosa que esta última por ser uma matriz menos complexa, o que facilita o seu pré-tratamento, além de não haver necessidade de sacrificar o animal. Diferentes protocolos de clean-up foram testados com objetivo de analisar a bílis por eletroforese 1D e 2D e zimografias para a detecção de enzimas. O protocolo final de clean-up inclui sonicação, centrifugação, deslipidificação e dessalinização. A presença de metalotioneínas foi analisada nesta matriz, através de eletroforeses 1D, 2D, espectrofotometria e SEC-HPLC-ICP-MS, e foi verificada que existe realmente expressão destas proteínas na bílis, inclusive com o mesmo comportamento reportado no fígado, de expressão aumentada em situações de contaminação ambiental. Também foi verificada a existência de metaloproteases de matriz na bílis através de zimografias gelatinolíticas, que também apresentaram potencial biomarcador de contaminação ambiental, pois algumas bandas gelatinolíticas estiveram presentes apenas em um local contaminado quando comparado a um lugar controle. Este trabalho verificou a existência de dois biomarcadores protéicos em bílis de peixe, um específico à contaminação por metais (metalotioneínas) e um não-específico (metaloproteases de matriz), além da possibilidade de uso da bílis de peixe como biomarcador à exposição a metais pela determinação das concentrações de elementos-traço nesta matriz. / [en] Fish bile is a biological fluid with great potential as a biomarker of environmental exposure to metals and complex mixtures. This study verified the potential of this matrix in environmental contamination situations by metals and analysed proteomic aspects. Two fish species (Mugil liza – mullets, and Tilapia rendalli – tilapias) were sampled from different locations. Tilapia individuals were exposed to sub-lethal Cu concentrations in the laboratory. Bile was analyzed regarding trace-element concentrations (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Mn), and statistical techniques indicate that this matrix can be used in biomonitoring for metal exposure instead of liver, being more advantageous than the latter, since this is a less complex matrix, leading to easier pre-treatment, besides the possibility of not having to sacrifice the animal. Different clean-up protocols were tested with the aim of analysing bile by 1D and 2D electrophoresis and zymographies for protein and enzyme detection. The final clean-up protocol consists of sonication, centrifugation, delipidation and desalting. The presence of metallothioneins was analyzed in this matrix by 1D and 2D electrophoresis, spectrophotometry and SEC-HPLC-ICP-MS, and it was verified that there really is metallothionenin expression in bile, showing similar behaviour to that reported in liver, of increased expression in environmental contamination situations. We also verified the existence of matrix metalloproteases in bile by gelatinolinic zymographies, and these also showed potential as biomarkers for environmental contamination, since some gelatinolinic bands were present only in a contaminated site in comparison to a reference location. This study verified the existence of two protein biomarkers in fish bile, one specific to metal contamination (metallothioneins) and one non-specific (matrix metalloproteinases), besides the possibility of utilizing fish bile as a biomarker to metal exposure by the determination of trace-elements in this matrix.