Tracing pollution in estuarine benthic organisms and its impacts on food webs of the Vitoria Bay estuary

Varzim, Cíntia S.; Hadlich, Heliatrice Louise; Andrades, Ryan; Mazzuco, Ana Carolina de Azevedo; Bernardino, Ângelo F.

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106410

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Estuaries are among the most threatened coastal ecosystems and are continually impacted by anthropogenic activities, which often increase the input of organic and inorganic pollutants to the water and sediment ( Muniz et al, 2006 ; Hadlich et al, 2018 ; Lu et al, 2018 ; Varzim et al, 2019 ). Pollutants released into estuarine ecosystems include toxic metals and metalloids that are stable, and considered persistent environmental contaminants, that is, they are not biodegraded ( Gómez-Parra et al, 2000 ; Garcia-Ordiales et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Gabriel

Hauser‐Davis

Soares

et al. 2020

PeerJ

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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.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Gabriel

Hauser‐Davis

Soares

et al. 2020

PeerJ

Self Cite

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“…The event was recognized as the largest environmental disaster in Brazilian history and one of the largest in the world involving mining activity (Almeida et al, 2018;Aires et al, 2018). The volume of the tailings caused an immediate increase in water turbidity and significantly affected riverine sediments, riparian soils and vegetation, and impacted the aquatic fauna of the Rio Doce estuary (Gomes et al, 2017;Bernardino et al, 2019;Queiroz et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Once in the estuary, the mine tailings were enriched with potentially toxic elements (PTE) when compared to samples from pre-impact conditions, resulting in significant changes in the soil geochemistry and losses of the local biota (Gomes et al, 2017;Queiroz et al, 2018;Bernardino et al, 2019;Andrades et al, 2020;Sá et al, 2021;Silva et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although a number of studies have provided information of chemical sedimentary concentrations and behavior of potentially toxic elements in soil and water (Gabriel et al, 2020b;Sá et al, 2021), there is relatively limited information of long-term impacts of tailings in benthic assemblages (Burd, 2002;Sweetman et al, 2020). Current progress in the study of the Rio Doce mine tailings impact (2-3 yrs after impact) have showed that following the initial deposition we could observe a chronic effect in benthic meiofaunal (<300 µm) and demersal fish estuarine assemblages due to PTE contamination and resuspension (Bernardino et al, 2019;Andrades et al, 2021;Coppo et al, 2023). Given that there is a potential for longterm (>3 years) contamination of estuarine soils when compared to baseline conditions (Gabriel et al, 2021), here we evaluated the benthic macrofaunal assemblage in the Rio Doce estuary before the disaster and up to 4.2 years after the arrival of the mining tailings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-term impacts on estuarine benthic assemblages 4.2 years after a mine tailing spill in SE Brazil

Coppo,

Gabriel,

Mazzuco

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The Rio Doce estuary was critically impacted in 2015 by the world’s largest mining tailing spill, with still unclear long-term effects. Here we present a long-term (2015 to 2020) assessment of estuarine benthic assemblages, where Annelida and Mollusca were dominant (52.6% and 26.3%, respectively). Our results demonstrated that the density and richness of benthic taxa decreased in response to an increase in potentially toxic elements concentrations, suggesting a chronic pollution effect that lasted for at least 4.2 years in the estuary. Our data demonstrated that despite the decline in sediment potentially toxic elements concentration over time, there was a continued low habitat quality for the benthic fauna characterized by a reduction of 96% on macroinvertebrate density and 48% on species richness. The long-term impacts on benthic macrofauna highlight that water quality levels can misguide impact assessment programs, and reveal that mine tailings impacts persist for many years in estuarine ecosystems.

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Hazardous Elements in the Edible Portion of Perna perna Mussels: Relation with the COVID-19 Pandemic Period and Assessment of the Risk to Human Health

Lima,

Di Beneditto,

Pestana

et al. 2024

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

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Tracing pollution in estuarine benthic organisms and its impacts on food webs of the Vitoria Bay estuary

Cited by 11 publications

References 42 publications

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

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

Long-term impacts on estuarine benthic assemblages 4.2 years after a mine tailing spill in SE Brazil

Hazardous Elements in the Edible Portion of Perna perna Mussels: Relation with the COVID-19 Pandemic Period and Assessment of the Risk to Human Health

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