Trace elements and organochlorine pollutants in selected fish species from Lake Phewa,Nepal

Lake water and fish livers and gills of sahar (Tor putitora), spiny eel (Mastacembelus armatus), African magur (Clarias gariepinus), and tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) from Lake Phewa, Nepal, were assessed for the concentrations of trace metals/elements and persistent organic pollutants. The lake water was neutral with low ionic and metallic concentrations as compared to high-altitude lakes of Nepal. The four elements Cu, Zn, Se, and Cd had highest concentrations in livers, indicating uptake from diet, whereas four other metallic elements Cr, Mn, Ni, and Pb had highest concentrations in gills, indicating uptake from lake water. O. niloticus tended to have most of trace metals in the liver at higher concentrations than the other species but significant differences among the different species were found only for Mn, Ni, and Zn in the gills. A pilot study on the concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in muscle revealed that dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and related compounds were the dominant organochlorine pesticides, having highest concentrations in C. gariepinus and lowest in O. niloticus.     

鱼塘水面无土栽培美人蕉研究

１９９０年起,采用浮床无土栽培技术在鱼塘水面种植陆生植物美人蕉（Ｃａｎａ ｇｅｎｅｒａｌｉｓ Ｂａｉｌｅｙ）。结果表明,美人蕉对水栽表现出良好的生态适应性,水栽美人蕉单位面积生物产量比陆栽增加了５０％左右,开花量增加近１倍,水栽美人蕉花期比同期的陆栽美人蕉延长２１ｄ。水栽美人蕉的良好适应性还表现在它的分枝根多,根系活力强,白根所占比例较高。图１表４参５     

单甲脒农药对鱼脑胆碱酯酶活性的影响

金鱼,鲤鱼在实验室驯化４－７ｄ,其脑胆碱酯酶活力在显著水平为Ｐ≤０．０５时,不同组的金鱼,鲤鱼无显著差异。离体实验条件下,单甲脒农药对金鱼,鲤鱼的半抑制浓度分别为１２５．９ｍｇ．ｌ＾－１和２５．７ｍｇ．ｌ＾－１。ＤＭＡ农药对鲤鱼的作用大于对金鱼的作用。     

Trace Element Concentrations in Fish, Surficial Sediments and Water from Northern Part of the Persian Gulf

Concentrations of cadmium, lead, nickel and vanadium were determined in water, surficial sediments and the muscle of three demersal fish species (Epinephelus coioides, Psettodes erumei and Solea elongate) from 15 sampling sites in the northern part of Persian Gulf. Concentrations of the elements were determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer. There were no significant differences among the sampling sites in Cd and Pb levels in the sediments. The highest concentrations of Ni and V in sediments were found near the southern coast of Qeshm Iland and Bandar Lengeh. Concentrations of Cd, Pb and Ni in the sediments were notably higher than global baseline values. Nearly in all cases the element concentrations in the sediments were considerably greater than RSA (ROPME Sea Area) and the ERL (Effects Range Low) guidelines. Significant differences among the sampling sites could be found for concentrations of all the four metals in water. The mean Ni, Pb and Cd levels in the water samples were relatively higher than those in some other regions of the Persian Gulf. Except few cases, the mean concentrations of the elements in muscle of the selected fish species were markedly below the international guidelines for human consumption.     

Combined use of rapid bioassessment protocols and sediment quality triad to assess stream quality

Physical, chemical and biological conditions at five stations on a small southeastern stream were evaluated using the Rapid Bioassessment Protocols (RBP) and the Sediment Quality Triad (SQT) to assess potential biological impacts of a municipal wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) on downstream resources. Physical habitat, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish assemblages were impaired at Stations 1 and 2 (upstream of the WWTF), suggesting that the degraded physical habitat was adversely impacting the fish and benthic populations. The SQT also demonstrated that Stations 1 and 2 were degraded, but the factors responsible for the impaired conditions were attributed to the elevated concentrations of polycylclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals (Mn, Pb) in the sediments. The source of contaminants to the upper reaches of the stream appears to be storm-water runoff from the city center. Increased discharge and stabilized base flow contributed by the WWTF appeared to benefit the physically-altered stream system. Although the two assessment procedures demonstrated biological impairment at the upstream stations, the environmental factors identified as being responsible for the impairment were different: the RBP provided insight into contributions associated with the physical habitat and the SQT contributed information on contaminants and sediment quality. Both procedures are important in the identification of physical and chemical factors responsible for environmental impairment and together they provide information critical to the development of appropriate management options for mitigation.     

On Developing Bioindicators for Human and Ecological Health

Risk assessors and risk managersgenerally either examine ecological health (usingbioindicators) or human health (using biomarkers ofexposure or effect). In this paper we suggest thatit is possible and advantageous to developbioindicators that can be used to assess exposureand effect for both human and non-human receptors. We describe the characteristics of suitablebioindicators for both human and ecological health,using mourning doves (Zenaida macroura),raccoons (Procyon lotor), and bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) as examples, and list thegeneral characteristics of other species that wouldmake them useful indicators for assessing both humanand ecological health. Bioindicators can beused cross-sectionally to assess the status ofecosystems and risk as well as longitudinally formonitoring changes or evaluating remediation. Forboth human and ecological risk assessment, there arethree sets of characteristics to consider whenselecting bioindicators: biological relevance,methodological relevance, and societal relevance. An indicator which fails to fulfill these is notlikely to be considered cost-effective and is likelyto be abandoned. The indicator should be readilymeasured and must measure an important range ofimpacts. For long-term support of a bioindicator,the indicator should be easily understood, and becost effective. We suggest that bioindicators thatcan also be used for both ecological and humanhealth risk assessment are optimal.     

Triclosan in Fresh Water Fish Gibelion Catla from the Kaveri River,India, and Its Consumption Risk Assessment

Triclosan is a common antimicrobial agent that is found in significant levels in the aquatic environment and may elicit effects on aquatic organisms through unexpected modes of action. In this study, triclosan was quantified in fish from the Kaveri River, India, by using the gas chromatography and mass spectrometry technique and it was found in the range of 0.73–50 ng/g wet weight (ww). The mean bioaccumulation factor based on water (BAF_w 820) and sediment (BAF_s 2.12) in the Kaveri River showed that triclosan is accumulative in fish, and reflects its feeding behavior. The bioaccumulation indicates triclosan's persistence or prevalence throughout the river stretch. Human risk assessment through dietary intake demonstrated that the triclosan exposure is five orders of magnitude lower than the acceptable daily intake (50 μg/kg bw) and US EPA reference dose (300 μg/kg bw/day). This investigation is the first to report the bioaccumulation of triclosan in freshwater fish from India. Further, the results indicate that this fish acts as a biomarker of exposure for triclosan and thus shall be used to report triclosan pollution in the future.     

Shoreline development and degradation of coastal fish reproduction habitats

Coastal development has severely affected habitats and biodiversity during the last century, but quantitative estimates of the impacts are usually lacking. We utilize predictive habitat modeling and mapping of human pressures to estimate the cumulative long-term effects of coastal development in relation to fish habitats. Based on aerial photographs since the 1960s, shoreline development rates were estimated in the Stockholm archipelago in the Baltic Sea. By combining shoreline development rates with spatial predictions of fish reproduction habitats, we estimated annual habitat degradation rates for three of the most common coastal fish species, northern pike (Esox lucius), Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) and roach (Rutilus rutilus). The results showed that shoreline constructions were concentrated to the reproduction habitats of these species. The estimated degradation rates, where a degraded habitat was defined as having ≥3 constructions per 100 m shoreline, were on average 0.5 % of available habitats per year and about 1 % in areas close to larger population centers. Approximately 40 % of available habitats were already degraded in 2005. These results provide an example of how many small construction projects over time may have a vast impact on coastal fish populations.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0522-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Effects of a gradually increased load of fish waste silage in co-digestion with cow manure on methane production

This study examined the effects of an increased load of nitrogen-rich organic material on anaerobic digestion and methane production. Co-digestion of fish waste silage (FWS) and cow manure (CM) was studied in two parallel laboratory-scale (8 L effective volume) semi-continuous stirred tank reactors (designated R1 and R2). A reactor fed with CM only (R0) was used as control. The reactors were operated in the mesophilic range (37 °C) with a hydraulic retention time of 30 days, and the entire experiment lasted for 450 days. The rate of organic loading was raised by increasing the content of FWS in the feed stock. During the experiment, the amount (volume%) of FWS was increased stepwise in the following order: 3% – 6% – 13% – 16%, and 19%. Measurements of methane production, and analysis of volatile fatty acids, ammonium and pH in the effluents were carried out. The highest methane production from co-digestion of FWS and CM was 0.400 L CH4 gVS^?1, obtained during the period with loading of 16% FWS in R2. Compared to anaerobic digestion of CM only, the methane production was increased by 100% at most, when FWS was added to the feed stock. The biogas processes failed in R1 and R2 during the periods, with loadings of 16% and 19% FWS, respectively. In both reactors, the biogas processes failed due to overloading and accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids.     

Induced alkoxyresorufin-O-dealkylases in tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus) from Guandu river, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The activity of fish monooxygenases has been extensively used as a monitoring tool to detect contamination of water bodies by cytochrome P450-inducing agents. In this study we evaluated the activities of ethoxy- (EROD), methoxy- (MROD) and pentoxy- (PROD) resorufin-O-dealkylases in the liver of Nile tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus) collected at the Guandu river, at a reference clean site (Lake 1) and at two other sampling sites (Lakes 2 and 3) in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Alkoxyresorufin-O-dealkylases were measured fluorimetrically in the hepatic S9 fraction. EROD (17.7-fold), MROD (14.2-fold) as well as PROD activities were considerably higher in tilapias from Guandu river. A moderate increase of EROD (5.0-fold) and MROD (5.4-fold) was also found in tilapias from Lake 3. These findings suggest that Guandu river watershed, the main source of urban drinking water supply in Rio de Janeiro, is polluted with CYP1A-inducing xenobiotics. Furthermore, we also found a good linear relationship between EROD and MROD, a finding that agrees with the hypothesis that the two reactions are catalysed by the same CYP1A isoform in O. niloticus.