Maricor Arlos

Maricor first became interested in ecotoxicology while taking Mark’s BIO 488 Ecotoxicology and Watershed Management course, where she was one of the few engineering students in the class. She completed her MASc co-supervised by Prof. Mark Servos and Prof. Wayne Parker (Civil and Environmental Engineering), followed by a PhD co-supervised by Prof. Mark Servos and Prof. Susan Andrews (Civil Engineering, University of Toronto).

Her research also reflects a strong interest in nanotechnology applications for water treatment, particularly the use of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanowires for the removal of organic micropollutants from water. TiO₂ functions as a photocatalyst that, upon light activation, generates reactive conditions capable of degrading organic contaminants into carbon dioxide and water. She has worked at the interface of environmental engineering, biology, and materials science, integrating contaminant effects assessment, trace analysis, and nanomaterials development. This interdisciplinary approach, including collaboration with materials science researchers, supports the development of innovative treatment technologies for improving water quality in Canadian drinking water systems.

Her PhD research focused on endocrine disruption in the Grand River watershed, where intersex in fish is strongly associated with estrogenic compounds from municipal wastewater treatment plants. She developed and applied a mechanistic emission–transport–fate (ETF) model to simulate the spatial and temporal distribution of key estrogens in the river, incorporating wastewater inputs, process changes, and hydrological conditions. By linking modeled estrogenicity with field observations of rainbow darter, her work established a quantitative exposure–response relationship between estrogen levels and intersex incidence and severity. She also investigated advanced treatment approaches for organic micropollutants, including UV/TiO₂ photocatalytic systems for the degradation of estrogens and reduction of estrogenic activity in water.