Contamination and oxidative stress biomarkers in estuarine fish following a mine tailing disaster

PeerJ

article

Fabrício Â. Gabriel¹  Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis²  Lorena Soares³  Ana Carolina A. Mazzuco¹  Rafael Christian Chavez Rocha⁴  Tatiana D. Saint Pierre⁴  Enrico Saggioro⁵  Fabio Verissimo Correia³  Tiago O. Ferreira⁶  Angelo F. Bernardino¹ 

[1] Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo;Instituto Oswaldo Cruz;Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro;Departamento de Química, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro;Departamento de Saneamento e Saúde Ambiental;Departamento de Ciência do Solo, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz Queiroz, Universidade de São Paulo

关键词: Rio Doce;    Health risk assessment;    Metalloproteins;    Environmental pollution;    Estuaries;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.10266

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background The Rio Doce estuary, in Brazil, was impacted by the deposition of iron mine tailings, caused by the collapse of a dam in 2015. Based on published baseline datasets, the estuary has been experiencing chronic trace metal contamination effects since 2017, with potential bioaccumulation in fishes and human health risks. As metal and metalloid concentrations in aquatic ecosystems pose severe threats to the aquatic biota, we hypothesized that the trace metals in estuarine sediments nearly two years after the disaster would lead to bioaccumulation in demersal fishes and result in the biosynthesis of metal-responsive proteins. Methods We measured As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Se and Zn concentrations in sediment samples in August 2017 and compared to published baseline levels. Also, trace metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb, Se and Zn) and protein (metallothionein and reduced glutathione) concentrations were quantified in the liver and muscle tissues of five fish species (Cathorops spixii, Genidens genidens, Eugerres brasilianus, Diapterus rhombeus and Mugil sp.) from the estuary, commonly used as food sources by local populations. Results Our results revealed high trace metal concentrations in estuarine sediments, when compared to published baseline values for the same estuary. The demersal fish species C. spixii and G. genidens had the highest concentrations of As, Cr, Mn, Hg, and Se in both, hepatic and muscle, tissues. Trace metal bioaccumulation in fish was correlated with the biosynthesis of metallothionein and reduced glutathione in both, liver and muscle, tissues, suggesting active physiological responses to contamination sources. The trace metal concentrations determined in fish tissues were also present in the estuarine sediments at the time of this study. Some elements had concentrations above the maximum permissible limits for human consumption in fish muscles (e.g., As, Cr, Mn, Se and Zn), suggesting potential human health risks that require further studies. Our study supports the high biogeochemical mobility of toxic elements between sediments and the bottom-dwelling biota in estuarine ecosystems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY