An assessment of acute biomarker responses in the demersal catfish Cathorops spixii after the Vicuña Oil Spill in a harbour estuarine area in Southern Brazil

Abstract

The Vicuña oil tanker exploded in Paranaguá Bay (South of Brazil), during methanol unloading operations in front of Paranaguá Harbour, on November 15th, 2004, releasing a large amount of bunker oil and methanol. Two weeks after the accident, the acute effects of the Vicuña Oil Spill (VOS) were evaluated in the demersal catfish Cathorops spixii, comparing a contaminated (at the spill site) and a reference site inside the Bay. Data were compared to previous measurements, taken before the accident, in the same species, from the same sites. The physiological biomarkers were the ones that best reflected acute effects of the spill: plasma osmolality, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Morphological (liver and gill histopathology) and genetic (piscine micronucleus and DNA strand breaks) biomarkers revealed that damage was already present in fishes from both reference and contaminated sites inside the Bay. Thus, the reference site is not devoid of contamination, as water circulation tends to spread the contaminants released into other areas of the Bay. Acute field surveys of oil spill effects in harbour areas with a long history of contamination should thus be viewed with caution, and whenever possible previous evaluations should be considered for proper appraisal of biomarker sensitivity, especially in mobile bioindicators such as fish.

Investigation of Health Hazards in Vehicle Refueling Stations Attendants at Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

“…The present study is not in correlation with the study of Shakirov (2001), by observing an increased level of magnesium in workers engaged in Journal of Biology and Life Science ISSN 2157-6076 2013 www.macrothink.org/jbls 244 oil refining industry. The present study is also not in correlation with the study of Katsumiti et al, (2009). This deviation may be due to certain factors like exposure time of the workers in the environment, experimental subject, chemicals and equipment used in evaluation of magnesium level.…”

Comparison of zooplankton community structure between impacted and non-impacted areas of Paranaguá Bay Estuarine Complex, south Brazil

“…However, only cirripede larvae showed differences in abundance between the two areas, being significantly more abundant in Paranaguá Bay than in Laranjeiras Bay, probably because these organisms seem to be favoured by eutrophication (Neumann-Leitão and Matsumura-Tundisi 1998; Araujo et al 2008). On the other hand, the water circulation seems to dilute and disperse the pollutants from Paranaguá Bay to other areas of the estuary (Katsumiti et al 2009), which may explain the lack of difference in abundance of other zooplankton groups between Paranaguá and Laranjeiras Bays. The higher diversity and number of copepod species observed in Paranaguá Bay than in Laranjeiras Bay was a consequence of the occurrence of more stenohaline species in the former site, as Paranaguá Bay is subjected to more marine influence than Laranjeiras Bay.…”

“…This lack of difference between the two areas was probably a consequence of the water circulation along the estuarine complex, which may have diluted and dispersed the pollutants from Paranaguá Bay to other areas of the estuary (Katsumiti et al 2009). On the other hand, zooplankton showed a clear seasonality, with higher abundances during the rainy season than in the dry season.…”

“…Anthropogenic impacts such as the transportation of non-indigenous species in commercial vessels, dredging, shipping and oil discharge (Neves and Rocha 2008;Noernberg et al 2008;Katsumiti et al 2009) are caused mainly by the presence of the Paranaguá Port, which is one of the major international harbours of South America. Pesticides from agriculture and untreated urban sewage are other important sources of pollution to the Paranaguá Bay Estuarine Complex (Lana et al 2001).…”

Visualizing social media’s impact on local communities

“…Cell suspensions that are scantly diluted will result in too many superimposed nucleoids in the comet field, thereby hindering image analysis. Some authors report using foetal calf serum instead but the differences to the use of PBS are unclear (127). Interestingly, Belpaeme et al (87) reported that the slides may be kept immersed in lysis solution, at 4°C, for up to 1 week without significant changes in nucleoid tails.…”