Low levels of persistent organic pollutants in sediments of the Doce River mouth, South Atlantic, before the Fundão dam failure

Toxicity Assessment of Waters from Rio Doce after the Fundão Dam Rupture to Zebrafish Embryos

The collapse of the Fundão Dam in 2015 caused strong alterations of physical-chemical properties of water bodies in the Rio Doce Basin, including the release of large quantities of metals. This study aimed to evaluate whether water samples collected along the Doce River after dam failure could affect the development of Danio rerio embryos. Water samples were collected immediately and 6 months after the rupture at multiple sites distributed across the river basin, and toxicity tests were conducted using recently fertilized eggs, in 24-well plates. The concentrations of As, Cd, Mn, and Ni in water samples collected immediately after the dam rupture exceeded the limits established by federal standards. No significant lethal or sublethal effects were observed in D. rerio embryos exposed to water samples in both sampling surveys. Based on our results, we hypothesized that although the concentrations of some elements were high, metals were likely not or poorly bioavailable, causing no significant changes in the exposed organisms.

Effect of typhoons on spatiotemporal patterns of multi-group persistent organic pollutants in sediment of Chinese southeastern coastal estuaries

Estuaries are susceptible to both anthropogenic disturbances and global climate changes. Impacts may be discriminated by pollution patterns of widely quantified persistent organic pollutants (POPs), though data are scarce for extreme climate events. This study quantified four groups of POPs, i.e., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), in sediments from seven Chinese coastal estuaries across a gradient of socioeconomic development in their watersheds with comparisons among the pre-typhoon, typhoon, and post-typhoon periods during 2016-2019. The maximal average concentrations, up to 1561 μg PAHs kg-1, 235 μg DDTs kg-1, and 38.9 μg HCHs kg-1, were quantified in the Jiulong River estuary and 7.61 μg PCBs kg-1 in the Jiao River estuary. Anthropogenic activities contributed to the distinctive spatial distributions of four groups of POPs in estuaries with non-agricultural gross domestic product (NAGDP) per capita significantly relating to sedimentary concentrations of PAHs and PCBs and agricultural gross domestic product (AGDP) per capita relating to DDTs and HCHs. Seasonality and typhoons led to less temporal variations in sedimentary POPs concentrations, whose spatial heterogeneity was remarkably reduced in the post-typhoon period rather than in the pre-typhoon and typhoon periods. The results of this study suggested that fingerprinting legacy POPs in spatial and temporal distributions contributed to identifying the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and climate changes on estuarine sediment quality.

How did a tailings spill change the distribution of legacy organochlorine compounds in a Southeast Atlantic inner shelf area: Is a hidden danger being transferred to the ocean?

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) were evaluated in water and sediments from the Espírito Santo Inner Shelf (ESIS), Brazil, three years after the Fundão dam failure (FDF). We discuss the levels, sources, fate, and current environmental risks of these contaminants on temporal and spatial scales. In addition, the associated coastal dispersion patterns, water-sediment exchange trends, and environmental alterations were also discussed. Low contributions and no environmental risks were verified for PCBs after FDF. However, the low concentrations and frequency of occurrence in the samples did not allow for further reliable conclusions regarding the source of this contaminant. In contrast, hazard risk has been detected for DDTs in water and sediments. In sediments, there were a significant increase in level (up to 13.42 ng g-1; outlier = 369.6 ng g-1), inventory (maximum = 35.98 ng cm-2) and mean total mass (21.1 ± 39.4 kg) of DDTs after FDF. The integrated assessment of the spatial distribution in water and sediment suggests that DDTs was released from the Doce River, travelled south by the water column, and returned to the mouth region by northward sediment transport, where it accumulated. However, intense rainfall increased the input of DDTs to the ESIS and may have also altered its spatial distribution. Fugacity fraction analysis (ƒƒ) indicated a net flux of DDTs from water to sediment, suggesting that vertical sinking was an important transport process in this area. Finally, the findings indicate that FDF contributed to DDTs input on ESIS by remobilizing contaminated past sediments and soils from the Doce River drainage basin. This contribution is expected to continue since a large amount of tailings is still stored in the river basin and estuary. These results highlight the importance of assessing the indirect impacts of large-scale land disasters on marine environments, and may be helpful in future interpretations of additional local trends and global inventories of legacy pollutants.

Review of scientific literature on available methods of assessing organochlorine pesticides in the environment

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) widely used in agriculture and industry, causing serious health and ecological consequences upon exposure. This review offers a thorough overview of OCPs analysis emphasizing the necessity of ongoing work to enhance the identification and monitoring of these POPs in environmental and human samples. The benefits and drawbacks of the various OCPs analysis techniques including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) are discussed. Challenges associated with validation and optimization criteria, including accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantitation (LOQ), must be met for a method to be regarded as accurate and reliable. Suitable quality control measures, such as method blanks and procedural blanks, are emphasized. The LOD and LOQ are critical quality control measure for efficient quantification of these compounds, and researchers have explored various techniques for their calculation. Matrix interference, solubility, volatility, and partition coefficient influence OCPs occurrences and are discussed in this review. Validation experiments, as stated by European Commission in document SANTE/11813/2017, showed that the acceptance criteria for method validation of OCP analytes include ≤20 % for high precision, and 70-120 % for recovery. This may ultimately be vital for determining the human health risk effects of exposure to OCP and for formulating sensible environmental and public health regulations.

Earlier biomarkers in fish evidencing stress responses to metal and organic pollution along the Doce River Basin

The Doce River Basin (DRB) represents a well-described watershed in terms of contamination by metals, especially after a major environmental disaster of a mining tailing dam failure. Despite the massive mortality of the ichthyofauna, very few studies addressed the risks to the health of wild fish exposed to complex mixtures of pollutants from multiple sources. The present study proposed to investigate earlier responses of fish for assessing the impacts of multiple sources of pollution, considering: different niches of fish and target organs; and the influence of seasonality, associated with their probable sources of pollution. To achieve that, fish were collected along the DRB, and biomarkers responses were assessed in target organs and correlated with the levels of inorganic and organic contaminants. As one of the most prominent responses, fishes from the Upper DRB showed the highest expression of the metallothionein and oxidative stress parameters which were related to the higher levels of metals in this region due to the proximity of mining activities. On the other hand, higher levels of DNA damage and increased AChE activity from fish sampled in the Mid and Lower DRB were more associated with organic contaminants, from other sources of pollution than mining residues. The integrated biomarker responses also revealed seasonal variations, with higher values in fishes from the dry season, and pelagic fish showing greater variation within the seasons. The multivariate analysis integrating suitable biomarkers with chemical data represented an adequate strategy for assessing the ecological risks in the DRB, allowing the identification of distinct spatio-temporal impacts from multiple sources of contaminants. The continued exposure of the ichthyofauna representing future risks reinforces the need for ecological restoration and the protection of the fauna from the Doce River.

Assessment of organochlorine contamination source and ecological risk in the Litani River: polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorinated pesticides in surface sediments

In this paper, we investigate for the first time the contamination source and the ecological risk associated to organochlorinated compounds in the Litani system. For this purpose, the levels of 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 13 organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs) were assessed, using a microwave-assisted extraction coupled to gas chromatography-electron capture detector (MAE/GC-ECD) method, in surficial sediments from 30 sites along the main course of the river, two major tributaries, and the Quaraoun Lake. ∑7PCBs exhibited total concentrations ranging from 0.11 to 8 ng g-1 of dry weight and are not able apparently to pose ecological risks since none of the samples showed concentration above the effects range low (ERL) guideline (22.7 ng g-1). The detected levels of OCPs in the river were significantly higher than those of PCBs; ∑13OCPs range from 0.5 to 46.5 ng g-1 of dry weight. Overall, the integrated eco-toxicological risk imposed by the organochlorine contamination in the Litani River, estimated as the mean effects range medium quotient (mERMq), is considered low with risk probability lower than 21% in all sites. The six dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane-based pesticides (∑6DDT) contributed to more than 70% of the mERMq in 15 over the 29 included sites. Moreover, the approach of ∑6DDT/∑7PCB ratios was applied to investigate the contamination source. ∑6DDT/∑7PCB was higher than one in all samples suggesting that the organochlorine contamination result from agricultural activities set in the surrounding areas of the Litani River.

From molecular endpoints to modeling longer-term effects in fish embryos exposed to the elutriate from Doce River

Sediments represent a major sink and also a main source of contaminants to aquatic environments. An environmental disaster from a mining dam breakage in 2015 in South-East Brazil re-suspended complex mixtures of chemicals deposited in the sediment, spreading contaminants along the Doce River Basin (DRB) major river course. While high levels of contaminants in sediment were well described, toxicological effects in aquatic organisms were poorly investigated. Thus, the effects of these potentially toxic chemicals were assessed in the present study through different endpoints (biochemical to populational levels) in fish embryos of the South-American silver catfish exposed to elutriates from different sites of the DRB. Despite no significant mortality observed, our results showed that exposure to the elutriates, especially those from the closest site to the dam collapse, caused higher deformities rates and DNA damage in the fish embryos than in the control group. Multivariate analysis showed that these sublethal effects may be related to the high levels of metals introduced by mining activities, compromising long-term survival and reproduction success. In addition, it was possible to observe the influence of other sources of pollutants along the river. According to our data, the mathematical model simulated a significant impact on the population density at longer-term exposure, for the sites that showed the most prominent toxicity responses. The fish embryo toxicity test proved to be an effective assay to assess the ecotoxicological effects of the pollutants from a major river contaminated by a mining dam collapse and showed that the survival rate per se was not a suitable endpoint to assess the toxicity of the pollutants. As a consequence, we contributed to shed a light on a potential underestimated impact of pollutants in sediments of the DRB on the native organisms at distinct biological levels of organizations.

Franciscana dolphins, Pontoporia blainvillei, as environmental sentinels of the world's largest mining disaster: Temporal trends for organohalogen compounds and their consequences for an endangered population

On November 5th, 2015, the Fundão dam collapsed in Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, releasing millions of cubic meters of mud containing mining residue into the Doce River. Two weeks later, the mud arrived to the marine environment, triggering changes in franciscana dolphin habitat, Pontoporia blainvillei, from Franciscana Management Area Ia. This is an isolated population of the most endangered cetacean species in the South Atlantic Ocean. Organohalogen compounds (OHCs) may pose a threat to this endangered population because of their endocrine disrupting properties. Hence, this study sought to determine if there were differences in the bioaccumulation profile of OHC (PCBs, DDTs, Mirex, HCB, HCHs, PBDEs, PBEB, HBBZ and MeO-BDEs) in franciscana dolphins before and after dam collapse and to build a temporal trend. Blubber of 33 stranded individuals was collected in Espírito Santo state for organohalogen assessment between 2003 and 2019. Differences were found between franciscana dolphins collected prior to and after the disaster. Additionally, significant temporal trends for organochlorine pesticides and natural and anthropogenic organobromine were detected. The increase in pesticide concentrations after 2015 is suggestive of their reavailability in the environment. The decline in organobromine over time could be due to their debromination in the marine environment and alterations in the composition of their natural producers. PCBs remained stable during the period of the study. Our findings show an increase in endocrine disruptor concentrations, which is of great concern for this endangered population.

Optimization and validation of ultrasound application with a low-temperature method to analyze organochlorine pesticides in smuggled cigarette tobacco

This work presents the optimization and validation of a method to quantify organochlorine pesticides in tobacco samples from smuggled cigarettes using ultrasound application and low-temperature extraction. The combined approach was validated for 20 organochlorine pesticides, achieving recoveries between 73% and 116%, and a relative standard deviation of less than 20%. The method minimized the matrix effect in 65% of the organochlorine pesticides. The limits of detection and quantification varied from 2 to 60 ng g-1 and 120 to 190 ng g-1, respectively. The method was applied to the analysis of 18 brands of smuggled cigarettes. The organochlorine pesticides found in the samples were cis-chlordane (89%), p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDD) and methoxychlor (78%), endosulfan sulfate (67%), heptachlor epoxide, and endosulfan II (61%). The concentrations of the organochlorine pesticides in this study were higher than those in a similar survey on cigarettes marketed in China. The ultrasound application and low-temperature extraction may be an efficient alternative to analyzing tobacco samples since it uses only one extraction solvent, requires low-cost equipment, does not require an additional clean-up step, reduces the environmental impact through minimal waste generation, and can detect low analyte concentrations.

Legacy organochlorines in estuarine sediment in relation to socioeconomic pattern in multi-coastal watersheds

Estuarine sediment quality is highly associated with anthropogenic activities in watersheds. This study attempts to couple socioeconomic patterns with estuarine sediment quality via legacy organochlorines in 14 Chinese coastal watersheds. Sedimentary concentrations of HCHs, DDTs, and PCBs showed a significant spatiality in estuary, up to 48.7 ± 15.1, 89.0 ± 46.4, and 54.5 ± 17.2 ng g-1, which were predominated by β-HCH, p,p'-DTs, and tri- to penta-PCBs, respectively. Ecological risk of organochlorines was negligible except few moderate risks for DDTs and PCBs against the first class quality of the marine sediment quality guidelines of China. Sedimentary DDT and PCB concentrations were significantly delineated by an environmental Kuznets curve model as a function of non-agricultural GDP per capita in watersheds, while HCHs by an increasing linear model. Findings of this study provide a tool to quantify the contribution of anthropogenic development in watershed to environmental change in estuary across the world.

Biochemical response and metals bioaccumulation in planktonic communities from marine areas impacted by the Fundão mine dam rupture (southeast Brazil)

The rupture of the Fundão dam (Mariana, MG, southeast Brazil) released a huge flood of mine tailings to Doce river basin and its adjacent coastal area, in November 2015. This catastrophic event exposed aquatic communities to metal contamination related to mine tailings, but its biological effects are still poorly understood. This study investigates how biochemical response related to metal exposure vary between locations and seasons during the years of 2018-2020, in planktonic communities (micro and mesoplankton). Marine microplankton collected in sectors in front and south of the Doce river mouth presented the highest lipid peroxidation (LPO) and induction of metallothioneins (MT). Mesoplankton collected in sectors in front and north of the Doce river mouth presented highest LPO, while MT in this size class did not respond to a clear spatial pattern. Our results showed that metals affected biomarkers in a non-linear pattern and highlighted the complex relationship between metals, biochemical parameters, and seasonality. The variation in biochemical biomarkers indicates physiological stress related to metals, once sectors contaminated by metals, especially Fe, Mn and Cd, presented stronger biochemical responses. Comparison of metal levels with bioaccumulation data collected before the impact indicates Fe, Cd, Cr and Cu more than 2-fold higher after disaster in sectors closer to the river. Literature showed that these sectors present zooplanktonic assemblages with lower biomass and biodiversity, suggesting that the opportunistic species that thrives in the area are also under biochemical stress, but possibly relies on repair or defense mechanisms. The physiological stress detected by this study is possibly related to the mine tailings, considering the metals that stood out and the proximity with the Doce river mouth. This suggests that the impacts related to the failure of Fundão dam are still affecting the marine planktonic community even three to four years after the environmental disaster.