Environmental pollution and its effects on the health of aquatic ecosystems is a great problem that has been studied intensely in the last years. The Vygozero reservoir is one of the largest water bodies of the Karelian Republic. Its ecosystem has undergone significant changes since the 1930s mainly due to anthropogenic influence from the development of pulp and paper mill industry leading to accumulation of toxic contaminants and eutrophication. At present, the water body has been shown to be also polluted by hydrocarbon products and heavy metals. Among the huge changes in Vygozero ecosystem is the decrease of some fish populations and partial loose of commercial fishing importance. Despite the obvious changes in fish population the chronic biological effects of the Vygozero reservoir pollution on fish organism are poorly studied. This study is concerned with the evaluation of pollution influence on fish health status and establishment relation between fish health and environmental quality. The parameters selected for this aim were the occurrence of gills, liver and kidney alterations, as histopathological changes are widely used as biomarkers in the evaluation of the health of fish exposed to contaminants. Our findings confirm chronic pollution of the Vygozero reservoir. Histological analysis of fish tissues revealed a variety of progressive, regressive, inflammatory, circulatory disturbances and neoplastic changes. Observed histological alterations indicate that organism of fish from Vygozero reservoir responses to the impaired environment quality. Revealed histopathologies are sings of metabolic disorders, immunity suppression, compensatory reactions development and functional abnormalities in vital organs of studied fish. The results of the study correspond to the prior research devoted to ascertain tissue changes in different fish species taken from an area with chronic multiple anthropogenic impact. So it can be concluded that histopathological lesions are result of long-term effect of toxic xenobiotics.
Analysis of one of the major surface oil spill consequences, which took place in 1994 on the territory of the Pechora River (Russia) catchment area, was carried out. Data on hydrocarbon products and their derivatives concentrations in muscle and liver tissues of several fish species living in the Pechora's Delta and the river tributaries were obtained. Comparative analysis of OCCs, PCBs and PAHs concentrations in 1997 and 2008 showed that levels of all examined pollutants in fish tissues are very low. At the same time, in 2008 OCCs and PCBs concentrations in fish were lower compared to 1997, except for PAHs concentrations in Pechora Delta whitefish, which demonstrate the opposite tendency in relation to two compounds for the last 11 years.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.