The state of Sinaloa in Mexico is an industrialized agricultural region with a documented pesticide usage of 700 t year; which at least 17 of the pesticides are classified as moderately to highly toxic. Pollutants in the water column of rivers and drains are of great concern because the water flows into coastal lagoons and nearshore waters and thereby affects aquatic organisms. This study was done in four municipalities in the state of Sinaloa that produce food intensively. To investigate the link between pollution in the lagoons and their proximity to agricultural sites, water was sampled in three coastal lagoons and in the rivers and drains that flow into them. Seawater from the Gulf of California, 10 km from the coast, was also analyzed. Concentrations of nutrients, organochlorines, and organophosphorus pesticides were determined. Nutrient determination showed an unhealthy environment with N/P ratios of <16, thus favoring nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. The organochlorine pesticides showed a clear accumulation in the coastal lagoons from the drains and rivers, with ΣHCH showing the highest concentrations. In the southern part of the region studied, pollution of the coastal lagoon of Pabellones could be traced mainly to the drains from the agricultural sites. Accumulation of OC pesticides was also observed in the Gulf of California. Tests for 22 organophosphates revealed only five (diazinon, disulfoton, methyl parathion, chlorpyrifos, and mevinphos); diazinon was detected at all the sites, although methyl parathion was present at some sites at concentrations one order of magnitude higher than diazinon.
Agriculture is one of the most important economic activities in Sinaloa, Mexico. The Culiacan Valley is an extensive agricultural region characterized by a variety of crops with high-yield productions. In this study, concentrations of organochlorine (OCPs) and organophosphorus (OPs) pesticides and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) were determined in sediments of the agricultural drainage system of Culiacan Valley. Overall, 32 compounds were detected, with concentrations widely ranging from 0.03 to 1 294 ng g(-1) dry weight. OCP concentrations (15) ranged from 0.1 to 20.19 ng g(-1) dw. OP concentrations (8) ranged from 0.03 to 1294 ng g(-1) dw, and diazinon was the compound with the highest concentration. PCB concentrations were also determined and varied from 0.05 to 3.29 ng g(-1) dw. Other compounds detected included permethrin, triadimefon, and fipronil. The central zone registered the higher concentrations and the greatest number of compounds, which could be related to the occurrence of horticultural fields in this zone. According to sediment quality guidelines, the compounds exceeding the probable effect level were γ-HCH, p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE, while the pesticides above the maximum permissible concentration were endosulfan, azinphos methyl, diazinon, dichlorvos, and permethrin. Although Sinaloa is an important agricultural crop producer in northwest Mexico, there are not many studies dealing with pesticide distribution in agricultural areas.
Follicular apoptosis in the tropical mussel Mytella strigata was assessed in three coastal lagoons located in the southern Gulf of California, Mexico. Mussels were collected from three coastal lagoons associated with different scenarios of anthropogenic stress during one year. The gonad of each mussel was dissected, weighed, and sampled for histology and apoptosis analysis by TUNEL labeling. Two apoptotic indices were used: the apoptotic index of cells (AIC) based on the number of follicular cells in apoptosis in one thousand cells counted per gonad, and the apoptotic index of follicles (AIF) based on the number of follicular cells per follicle per gonad. Both indices showed high association with each other for all developmental stages, although AIF seemed to better discriminate among sites. Higher AIF and AIC were observed at the Urias Estuary (1.6 and 1.5 respectively) ranked as highly polluted, followed by Ensenada del Pabellon (0.82 and 0.95 respectively), ranked as moderately polluted, and the Teacapan Estuary (0.57 and 0.76 respectively) ranked as slightly polluted. Our data indicate that the apoptotic index in tropical mussels could be a useful indicator of environmental stress in coastal ecosystems; however, the ecological relevance of follicular apoptosis in polluted environments needs further investigation.
Biomarkers have been useful tools to monitor some effects of pollution in coastal environments. Hepatic expression of heat-shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) were analyzed in white mullet (Mugil curema) by RT-PCR from July, 2005 until July, 2006 in three coastal lagoons located in the southern Gulf of California, Mexico. These three coastal systems receive contaminants derived from local anthropogenic activities. Heat-shock proteins function to maintain protein integrity in the presence of stressors (such as heat or chemicals) and can be used as biomarkers of homeostatic alterations in polluted environments, whereas cytochrome P450 family members participate in steroid hormone synthesis and metabolism, and in xenobiotic transformation as a detoxification mechanism. The expression levels of both genes showed consistency in time and space, and presented a high overall correlation (r = 0.731, P < 0.001). Regardless of a high individual variability, both genes presented higher expression levels in the Urias Estuary (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05 for CYP1A and Hsp70, respectively), which was considered the most polluted among the three systems, especially during the rainy season (summer to fall). Gene expression levels were significantly associated with non-halogenated hydrocarbon concentrations in sediments during the sampling period (r = 0.686, P = 0.019 for CYP1A and r = 0.91, P < 0.001 for Hsp70), suggesting that both genes respond to chemicals in the environment. The results indicate that Mugil curema is a good candidate species to implement biomonitoring programs in tropical coastal environments.
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