|
3A - Biomarker/Biomonitoring (TUP/162) Temporal variation of contaminant levels and biological responses in transplanted mussels. Mariottini, Michela1, Corsi, Ilaria1, Perra, Guido1, Balocchi, Cristiana1, Iacocca, Annalisa1, Lancini, Lucia1, Bonacci, Stefano1, Focardi, Silvano1, 1 Department of Environmental Science, University of Siena, Siena, Italy ABSTRACT- Mussels have been widely used as sentinel organism for monitoring the concentration of pollutants in coastal environments. In order to estimate temporal variation in the accumulation of aquatic pollutants and biological responses, specimen of Mytilus galloprovincialis were transplanted from a reference area to two different sites along the Ligurian coast of Italy (Genoa and La Spezia harbours) and collected 7 times over a 30-day period. Midgut gland expression of mixed-function oxygenase (MFO) system components as benzo(a)pyrene monooxygenase activity (BaPMO) and cholinesterase activity (ChE) were investigated in order to evaluated both physiological/metabolising condition status of the organism during experiment. Higher PCB levels were detected in mussels from Genoa harbour than from La Spezia (range: 44.56-141.87 ng/g w.w.). No spatial differences were determined neither in organochlorine pesticide levels nor in percentage composition (DDTs> HCHs∼ chlordanes> mirex > HCB). No linear temporal trend was found for PCB and OC pesticide levels, and the highest PCB concentrations were detected at time 3 and 7 in mussels from both harbours. PAH levels showed low concentrations in both harbours but varied over time with an increasing trend (range: 20.33-40.04 ng/g w.w.). Heavy metal levels were similar to those reported in literature for moderately impacted harbours (particularly Pb and Zn) with no differences between the two areas. Moreover no linear temporal trend was evident. AChE activity seemed not to vary substantially in the two areas, while a general temporal decrease was found. Higher BaPMO activities were detected at time 3, 14 and 24 in La Spezia harbour compared to Genoa harbour, while no significant time-dependent response was found . Key words: Temporal variation, Mytilus galloprovincialis, Pollutants, Biomarkers |
