Relevance of flounder caging and proteomics to explore the impact of a major industrial accident caused by fire on the Seine estuarine water quality

On September 26th 2019, a major fire occurred in the Lubrizol factory located near the Seine estuary, in Rouen-France. Juvenile flounders were captured in the Canche estuary (a reference system) and caged one month in the Canche and in the Seine downstream the accident site. No significant increases of PAHs, PCBs and PFAS was detected in Seine vs Canche sediments after the accident, but a significant increase of dioxins and furans was observed in water and sewage sludge in the Rouen wastewater treatment plant. The proteomics approach highlighted a dysregulation of proteins associated with cholesterol synthesis and lipid metabolism, in fish caged in the Seine. The overall results suggested that the fire produced air borne dioxins and furans that got deposited on soil and subsequently entered in the Seine estuarine waters via runoff; thus contaminating fish preys and caged flounders in the Seine estuary.