Multimarker approach to assess the exposure of the wild rodent Calomys laucha to a simulated crude oil spill

The most extensive oil spill registered in tropical oceans (Brazil): the balance sheet of a disaster

“…Monitors and co-management measures must be implemented to minimize the public health, ecological, and socioeconomic effects of this extensive spill. To elucidate the magnitude of the disaster and to contribute to the adequate restoration, we emphasize the urgent need for research focusing on the following issues: (1) levels and effects of contamination in tropical food webs; (2) environmental toxicity (PAHs -polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) from oil and its residues in populations and ecosystems not evaluated to date (e.g., fishes, oysters, rhodolith beds, and coral reefs) (Miranda et al 2020;Müller et al 2021;Soares et al 2021); (3) biomonitors, biomarkers (Almeida et al 2021), and microbial remediation of the oil spill (Appolinario et al 2019;Rodrigues et al 2020); and (4) monitoring of the acute and chronic ecological and socioeconomic impacts on traditional human communities and coastal ecosystems. Finally, there is a global concern regarding the impacts of mapping, exploitation, transportation, and uses of fossil fuels in the threatened world by climate change and the biodiversity crisis.…”

“…Fishers interviewed by Estevo et al (2021) described health impacts, including skin diseases and diarrhea outbreaks after direct oil exposure. Biomonitors and biomarkers are used to evaluate the health effects of environmental degradation from this mysterious oil spill in Brazil (Almeida et al 2021). Exposure to crude oil likely induced multiple health issues (e.g., lethargy, bristly hair, locomotion difficulty, muscular mass alterations, and changes in weight of the kidneys, liver, and spleen).…”

“…Exposure to crude oil likely induced multiple health issues (e.g., lethargy, bristly hair, locomotion difficulty, muscular mass alterations, and changes in weight of the kidneys, liver, and spleen). Furthermore, the exposure resulted in mutagenic damage to bone marrow blood cells and behavioral and morphological alterations, which are usually dose-dependent (Almeida et al 2021). These results highlight the possible impacts on marine animals and the health of human communities due to the contamination by PAH and toxic metals (Soares et al 2021).…”

Efficient and Fast Removal of Oils from Water Surfaces via Highly Oleophilic Polyurethane Composites

“…Due to the low solubility and biodegradability of oils, the damage to the aqueous ecosystem is permanent until the pollutants are removed [ 6 , 7 ]. The negative effects are not only traceable to aquatic species, but also to the other types of living organisms that use water as a source of life, such as plants and animals [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Fuels, in the form of light hydrocarbons, for example, tars, grease, and diesel oil, or as heavy hydrocarbons, such as kerosene, gasoline, and jet fuel, together with fats, lubricants, and motor oil are increasingly in demand by the market [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Severe ecological impacts caused by one of the worst orphan oil spills worldwide

“…with PAHs, mainly benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, and benzo[b]fluoranthene, in the affected oil spill area (Melo et al, 2022) Oil contamination of fishes with PAHs, mainly fluoranthene, naphthalene, phenanthrene, fluorene, and acenaphthylene (14.28-32.06 ng g − 1 ) ( Soares et al, 2021) Lowered abundances and taxonomic richness of larvae, and decreased larval size (34 fish larvae taxa from 29 families and fish eggs) after the oil spill. Increase in morphological abnormalities in fish larvae and eggs (Souza et al, 2022) Turtles Threatened marine species Lepidochelys olivacea, Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta (IBAMA, 2019; Soares et al, 2020b; Oliveira et al, 2021) 105 oiled animals and dead animals (>95 individuals) (IBAMA, 2019) Birds 39 oiled birds and dead animals (IBAMA, 2019) MammalsExposure in laboratory resulted in mutagenic damage to bone marrow blood cells and behavioral and morphological alterations in wild rodent Calomys laucha (e.g., lethargy, bristly hair, locomotion difficulty, muscular mass alterations, and changes in weight of the kidneys, liver, and spleen)(Almeida et al, 2021) Oiled and dead manatee Trichechus manatus (IBAMA, 2019) Seagrasses Potential area (+325 km 2 ) and richness of seagrasses affected by oil (5 eco-engineer species of Halodule spp. and 1 species of Ruppia maritima) (…”