Division Ecotoxicology, one of a kind in India, addresses issues pertaining to assessing ill effects of contaminants on ecosystem components, with special reference to birds. Population of several species of birds including a few so-called common birds has been on the decline in India in the recent past. While there are many reasons postulated for the same, agricultural practices and changes in land use pattern have undoubtedly contributed for the present situation. Mortality of birds due to pesticide poisoning has become rampant across the agricultural and urban landscapes in the country. Sarus Crane, Peafowl, Demoiselle Crane are a few notable victims in the recent past. Our research over the years has confirmed several incidents of pesticide poisoning, and documented varying magnitude of contamination in more than 125 species of birds in the country. Despite the ban on many persistent pesticides, residue levels of a few pesticides in many species of birds are of concern. Understandably, birds are the worst affected non-target organisms. Among the innumerable contaminants present in the environment, the division keeps track of the ill effects of chemicals such as pesticides, PCBs, PAHs, metals, and even pharmaceuticals (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) on birds. Needless to mention that diclofenac brought a catastrophic population decline in vultures in Indian sub-continent. While the division’s main focus has been on birds, it does also look at other taxa such as fish.
Among the habitats, wetlands suffer the most. Agricultural runoff loaded with chemicals of assorted sorts finds its way into wetlands, the aquatic wealth of our country. Eutrophication of the habitat and accumulation of chemicals in aquatic organisms slowly deteriorate the system and lead to ecological succession. Fishes, due to their position in the aquatic food chain and nutritive value, are considered to be better indicators of wetland contamination than other inhabitants. The division’s research on 64 species of fishes from many wetlands across the nation, and 44 rivers in Kerala revealed that not a single individual was free from chemical residues. Habitat quality assessment using indicator organisms such as fishes has been yet another area of research of the Ecotoxicology division.
Cytochrome P450, Glutathione, Metallothionein, Acetyl, butyl and carboxyl esterases are some of the biomarkers which are reported to be suitable markers of environmental contamination. In India although some information is available on the use of such biomarkers on contaminants related studies, the status is far from desired. The division of Ecotoxicology proposes to intensify its research in this domain.
Mortality of birds due to diseases in wetland habitats in India has been widespread off late. Classic examples are the episode in Nalabana Sanctuary, Chilika Lake where 100s of ducks died due to avian pasteurellosis, and Sambhar Lake where tens of thousands of ducks succumbed to Botulism during 2020. Avian influenza has been around for many years, but causality of birds in different parts of the country, particularly in Pong Dam and around has been of a serious concern at present. The division addresses such aspects on collaborative format.
Senior Principal Scientist
Dr. K. Nambirajan, Project Scientist
Did my postgraduation in chemistry from Sri KGS Arts and Science college, Srivaikuntam, affiliated to Manonmanium Sundaranar University. Tirunelveli. Worked as Analytical R&D chemist for six years in pharma industries and gained vast experience in chromatography techniques and chemical characterisation. Received PhD in chemistry with specialization in Environmental Chemistry & Toxicology from Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore for the research work titled “Residues of Pesticides, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Diclofenac in tissues of various species of birds in select states of India”. My prime interest lies in method development and validation for qualitative and quantitative analysis of organic contaminants such as pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, dioxin, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and pharmaceuticals from biological and non-biological samples using instruments such as GC, GC-MS, HPLC & HPLC-MS. I am keen in looking at the impact of environmental contaminants, such as pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, PAHs and heavy metals on birds and other ecosystem components from an ecological perspective.
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Mr. Gaurav sonawane, Junior Research Biologist
“We don’t own the planet Earth, we belong to it. And we must share it with the wildlife.”
-Steve Irwin
Interests: Fascinated by birds, animals and people’s activity disturbing them.
Previous work: Worked as a JRB in the project “Assessing the distribution, population and habitat use of three endangered species to develop conservation plan for species and their habitats” under the guidance of Dr. S. Babu (Sr. Scientist).
Current work: Working as a JRB in the project “Evaluate impact of Environmental contaminants of agricultural and industrial origin on wetlands with high avian biodiversity, using fish-eating birds as indicators” under the guidance of Dr. S. Muralidharan (Sr. Principal Scientist Grade I).
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Mr. Sharma Kamalanathan, Junior Research Biologist
I’m deeply passionate about life science as a whole, and I took zoology as a major discipline for my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. I have an ardent interest in ornithology and therefore did my master’s dissertation on roosting ecology of sympatric medium-sized raptors. I am also interested in Biochemistry, Molecular biology, Animal pathology, Ethology&Landscape ecology, and Mammology, especially semi-aquatic meso-carnivores. From the beginning of my master’s degree, I have been using Statistical tools such as Rstudio and Geo-analytical tool Qgis software, and I am interested in bio-analytics and conversant in computing mass datasets. I have volunteered at Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB). I am always open to learning and sharing knowledge in academics and the research field. I wish to work on diverse aspects of life science in near future. I feel indeed glad to work for the conservation of nature and its components.
Presently, I am working as a Junior Research Biologist at National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology (NCAE), SACON. I have joined NCAE, SACON under the project titled “Evaluate impact of environmental contaminants of agricultural and industrial origin on wetlands with high avian biodiversity, using fish-eating birds as indicators” funded by MoEF&CC.
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Mr. T. Manikandan, Laboratory Assistant
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Ms. E. Jeevitha, Junior Research Biologist
I chose Chemistry as a subject in my post-graduation to understand the chemical process that occurs contaminants in different environmental matrices and the effects of human activity on them. I have learned analytical techniques to quantify & qualify the chemical. I got an opportunity to do an internship in Biocon Pharma Limited Bangalore, where I gained basic techniques employed in analytical chemistry. After that I joined as a Technical Assistant in South India Textile Research Association Coimbatore I got trained to handle the analytical instruments to quantify chemical compounds present in the fabrics. Subsequently, I got a great opportunity to work in the SACON Ecotoxicology Department in 2019 as a JRB in the project titled ” Assessment of status distribution & threats to the population of threatened sarus crane Antigone antigone in UP.
Currently, in the same division, I am working on another project titled” Evaluate the impact of environmental contaminants of agricultural and industrial origin on wetlands with high avian biodiversity using fish-eating birds as indicators”. I am interested to contribute and pursue my career in Ecotoxicology.
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Mr. L. Kalaiarasu, Technical Assistant
I am Kalaiarasu L, Masters’ in Chemistry, from Bharathidasan University, India and also an MBA Finance graduate, from Pondicherry University, India. I had my Bachelors’ in Chemistry and Diploma in Journalism, from Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli. I completed my post-graduation dissertation on “Synthesis of 3-Arylquinoxaline from Aroylmethylidene Malonate and Ortho-Phenylenediamine” for biomedical applications and under-graduation dissertation on “Multiresidue determination of pesticides in fruits and vegetables by Gas Chromatography – Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry”. Besides, I have worked on various projects like- ‘Synthesis of Imidazole based derivatives as Histone deacetylases inhibitors’ and ‘Screening of secondary metabolites in different fungal species by using UHPLC-QToF-MS’. However, I was sure that not only the field of chemistry fits me in my line. Instead, I patiently waited for my crystals to grow, that would rather be learning about biological studies and the instrumental technique to analyze them too. Afterwards, I have realized that my problem-solving and dynamic personality led me to the area of Chemistry coupled with Organic, Biological, Environmental, Agricultural and Pharmacological science. I quickly became fascinated with Chromatography science, mainly because it offers a swift turn around between academic research for a new method and application of such a method in real cases. This, besides the possibility of exploring all those state-of-art equipment and the methodical process, made me eager to engage in and learn profoundly about the field. Therefore, I developed a strong interest in exploring the theory of GC, LC, Mass Spectrometry, mass spectra elucidation and method developments. To develop myself in these fields I started my career through internships from my undergraduate onwards from the following labs: National Referral Lab, ICAR-National Research Centre for Grapes (NRCG), Pune. Bio-Prospecting Division, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB), Coimbatore. Analytical Lab, The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA), Coimbatore.
Currently, I am working as a Technical Assistant in the project titled, “Evaluate impact of environmental contaminants of agricultural and industrial origin on wetlands with high avian biodiversity, using fish-eating birds as indicators” at National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India. I am very keenly interested to contribute and pursue my career and knowledge for my country’s peoples wealth, health and for my India.
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Ongoing projects
Recently completed projects
National
Short Communications
Popular article
Muralidharan S (1992). Poisoning the Sarus. Hornbill. Bombay Natural History Society.1, 2-7.
While the state-of-the-art analytical facility available at the division is primarily to meet the division’s mandate of understanding the impact of contaminants on ecosystem components, especially birds, we also intend to help the state forest departments, academic community, and research institutions with their analytical requirement at reasonable cost. For more details one may contact the division head Dr S Muralidharan at 0422-2203123 or write to ecot_mur@yahoo.com. (Click here)
Training programmes
While analytical chemistry is an integral part of toxicological studies, analytical tools are not in the easy reach of students to equip themselves to face the competitive research field. Hence, the division of Ecotoxicology organizes short-term training programmes periodically on Instrumentation and Analytical Techniques for students of different disciplines. Postgraduates in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, Microbiology, Environmental Sciences, Biotechnology, Environmental Management, Wildlife Sciences, and Food and Nutrition are our target groups. The course is expected to be highly useful to students who wish to take up research and development as their career. For more details one may contact the course coordinator Dr S Muralidharan at 0422-2203123 or write to ecot_mur@yahoo.com
The infrastructure
The division of ecotoxicology is equipped with many analytical instruments such as Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), Graphite Furnace AAS, Gas Chromatograph, High Performance Liquid Chromatograph, UV-Vis Spectrophotometer and Ultra centrifuge towards quantifying and quantifying different contaminants. We have augmented the facility with a set of new instruments such as Mass Spectrometers (GC MSMS, LC MSMS and ICP MS). The state-of-the facility named as National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology was inaugurated during August 2019 by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Honorable Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Govt of India. The analytical facility, with a whole lot of relevant paraphernalia, is designed exclusively to address toxicological issues pertaining to wildlife, especially birds in India.
