Cadmium effects on some energy metabolism variables in Cnesterodon decemmaculatus adults.

This work is focused on the responses of some energy metabolism variables in Cnesterodon decemmaculatus adults exposed to cadmium under controlled laboratory conditions. This species has been used as bioindicator for evaluating the effects of different chemicals on diverse biological processes and is frequently used as test organism in ecotoxicity studies that include cadmium as reference toxicant. Animals were exposed for 12 days to the following concentrations: 0, 0.45, and 0.8 mg Cd/L. Food intake, fecal production, specific assimilation, condition factor, mortality percentage, oxygen consumption, oxygen extraction efficiency, specific metabolic rate, ammonia excretion, and ammonia quotient were measured. The overall balance was expressed as scope for growth (SFG). Cadmium-exposed groups showed a significant decrease in food assimilation and condition factor at the end of the exposure. There was an increase in specific metabolic rate and a decrease in SFG in the group exposed to 0.8 mg Cd/L. The condition factor and the SFG appeared as sensitive biomarkers of health status and growth of the animals, respectively. Cadmium-exposed fish reduced food intake, which was reflected in a decreased assimilation with concomitant decline in the external energy supply from feeding. Our results highlight the importance of considering the metabolic status of the test organisms when analyzing the responses of the biomarkers usually used as effect parameters in ecotoxicological evaluations under experimental conditions.

Water quality of the Luján river, a lowland watercourse near the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires (Argentina).

Luján river is a lowland watercourse which runs 130 km before flowing into the Río de la Plata Estuary, and receives a mixture of domestic and industrial wastewaters originating at its margins. In order to know the physicochemical profile of its surface water, 36 physical-chemical variables were analyzed in samples collected seasonally between 2004 and 2006 at three sampling stations. The results obtained through the principal component analysis (PCA) suggest that the variations in water quality are explained by natural components (soluble salts; metals), nonpoint inputs (nutrients), and anthropogenic (organic and bacterial) and industrial (toxic heavy metals) pollutants. The cases did not fit a clear spatial or seasonal pattern when plotted against the first two PCA axes. The three water quality indices calculated gave middle scores; Sampling station 1 gave a baseline for the comparison of the river's water quality along its course while Sampling station 3 (downriver) was the most degraded. A variety of pollution pulses reach and affect the watercourse downstream. Cities' sewage discharges into the river seem to be the major polluting factor, together with natural metals and other solutes loads that are present from the headwaters. The results may be useful for the development of local and regional mitigation and remediation programs regarding toxic and eutrophying loads in the upper basin of the river.

Toxicity of waterborne Copper in premetamorphic tadpoles of Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw, 1802).

Toxicity parameters of Copper to pre-metamorphic larvae of Lithobates catesbeianus were evaluated in laboratory conditions. The acute toxicity (as LC-50 96 h) was 3.96 mg Cu(2+) L(-1) (95% confidence interval: 3.21-4.89); the bioconcentration of the metal after 96 h exposure followed an exponential increase. The potential genotoxicity effect evaluated with Micronucleus Test showed a reduced sensitivity of the animals to the assayed concentrations of the metal, exhibiting only a modest increase in the frequency of erythrocytes micronuclei, meanwhile larvae exposed to cyclophosphamide (positive control) showed significant increases. The Condition Factor was significantly reduced while the Hepatosomatic Index remained unaltered.

Use of integrated biomarker indexes for assessing the impact of receiving waters on a native neotropical teleost fish.

In the field of aquatic ecotoxicology, indexes obtained from a battery of biomarkers have proved to be a useful tool for assessing quantifiable and integrated health responses of organisms exposed to pollutants. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of exposure to the Reconquista River water (RR) on adults of Cnesterodon decemmaculatus using different integrated indexes. We conducted a 12-d laboratory assay involving the exposure of fish to RR, a negative control (moderately hard water - MHW medium), and a positive control (for genotoxicity with MHW + Cyclophosphamide, CP). There were measured metabolic (food intake and specific assimilation, specific metabolic rate, oxygen extraction efficiency, ammonia excretion, and ammonia quotient), genotoxic (comet assay, micronucleus test, and nuclear abnormalities), morphological variables (total length, body and liver weight) and biochemical variables (Electron Transport System - ETS, Acetylcholinesterase activity - AChE, Catalase - CAT, Glutathione-S-transferase - GST, Glutathione content - GSH and tissue proteins). These variables were grouped into different indexes: morphological (Condition Factor - K and Liver Somatic Index-LSI), metabolic (Scope for Growth-SFG), genetic damage (GDI) and integrated biomarker response - IBR (AChE brain, CAT, GST and GSH liver, GSH gills, ETS muscle) indexes. Results indicated that RR water induced metabolic, biochemical and genetic damages. The SFG, GDI and IBR were suitable to assess the effects of exposure to an environmental sample in an integrated approach, reducing uncertainty due to inherent biomarker variability. These indexes have emerged as promising tools for environmental monitoring studies.

Spatial and temporal trends of physicochemical parameters in the water of the Reconquista river (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

The Reconquista river is one of the most polluted watercourses in Argentina. More than 3 million people and over 10,000 industries are settled on its basin. The available data show that pollution is mainly related to the discharge of domestic and industrial liquid wastes that are poured into the river almost untreated. At present no site of the river can be characterized as free of pollutants. Samples were taken monthly from 5 sites of the river; some 18-20 physicochemical parameters were determined in each sample. Analyses revealed significant differences in the degree of deterioration between sites. Two of them, close to the source of the river (Cascallares-S(1) and Paso del Rey-S(2)) resulted less polluted than the two points located close to the mouth of the river (San Martin-S(4) and Bancalari-S(5)). The worsening of the water quality in S(4)-S(5) was attributed to the discharges of the Moron stream, a tributary that flows into the main course of the river a complex mixture of non treated waste waters. PCA was used in the ordination of samples (sites, season and physicochemical parameters). In the PCA performed using all variables, the first principal component showed positive correlation with N-NH(4) (+), conductivity, orthophosphate, BOD(5), COD and alkalinity, and negative correlation with DO. The second principal component was positively correlated with pH, temperature and chlorophyll a and negatively with phenols and hardness. In respect to the spatial distribution, the plot of the scores for the first two components of samples taken in each sampling station showed S(1) and S(2) values displayed farthest at the left side of the X axis with high DO. In contrast, S(4) and S(5) values stayed at the right side of this axis with high N-NH(4) (+), conductivity, orthophosphate, BOD(5), COD and alkalinity; data of S(3) were "intermediate". In order to identify seasonal trends in the concentration of contaminants scores of cases labeled by season were plotted. The line drawn on the ordination plane showed that summer samples tended to converge to the upper right portion of the graph where pollution variables had more importance on the first axis, and along the second axis with high correlation with pH, temperature and chlorophyll a. Winter scores were settled in the left lower part of the plot with minor contribution of pollution parameters and more importance of DO on the first axis. Samples of autumn and spring did not fit a clear cut pattern.

Effect of sublethal cadmium on liver arginase activity of the toad Bufo arenarum

Se determinó la actividad de arginasa hepática en Bufo arenarum adulto luego de la administración de 2,8 y 5,0 mg Cd/Kg p.c., inyectados por tercios a lo largo de 26 días. La actividad específica de la enzima en los sapos inyectadod con Cd se redujo 37-55 por ciento con respecto a los controles. La reducción de la actividad podría ser considerada como respuesta bioquímica a cantidades subletales de Cd en una de las principales enzimas del ciclo de la urea