Laboratoire Génie de l'Environnement et de l'Écotechnologie - Geet, National School of Engineers of Sfax, Université de Sfax, Route de Soukra Km 4.5 BP W, 3038, Sfax, Tunisia.
Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR/CIMAR), Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Av. General Norton de Matos s/n, 4450-208, Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal.
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2019 May;76(4):678-691. doi: 10.1007/s00244-019-00611-2. Epub 2019 Mar 9.
Toxicity caused by exposure to pollutants from marine sediments is a consequence of the interaction between biota and xenobiotics most frequently released by anthropogenic activities. The present work intended to characterize the toxicity of natural sediments putatively impacted by distinct human activities, collected at several sites located in the south of the Gulf of Gabes, Zarzis area, Tunisia. The selected toxicity criteria were analysed following ecologically relevant test conditions. Organisms of the polychaete species Hediste diversicolor were chronically exposed (28 days) to the mentioned sediments. Toxicity endpoints were biomarkers involved in the toxic response to common anthropogenic chemicals, namely neurotoxic (acetylcholinesterase), anti-oxidant (catalase, glutathione peroxidase), metabolic (glutathione S-transferases) enzymatic activities, and oxidative damage (lipid peroxidation, TBARS assay). The chemical characterization of sediments showed that the samples collected from the site near an aquaculture facility were highly contaminated by heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Zn) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene and pyrene). H. diversicolor individuals exposed to the sediments from this specific site showed the highest values among all tested biomarkers, suggesting that these organisms were possibly under a pro-oxidative stress condition potentially promoted by anthropogenic pollution. Moreover, it was possible to conclude that individuals of the polychaete species H. diversicolor responded to the chronic exposure to potentially contaminated sediments from the southeast coast of Tunisia, eliciting adaptive responses of significant biological meaning.
受海洋沉积物污染物暴露引起的毒性是生物群与最常由人为活动释放的外来物质相互作用的结果。本工作旨在对可能受到不同人类活动影响的天然沉积物的毒性进行特征描述，这些沉积物是在突尼斯扎尔齐斯地区加贝斯湾南部的几个地点采集的。选择了生态相关测试条件下分析的毒性标准。多毛类动物 Hediste diversicolor 被慢性暴露（28 天）于上述沉积物中。毒性终点是涉及对常见人为化学物质的毒性反应的生物标志物，即神经毒性（乙酰胆碱酯酶）、抗氧化（过氧化氢酶、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶）、代谢（谷胱甘肽 S-转移酶）酶活性和氧化损伤（脂质过氧化，TBARS 测定）。沉积物的化学特征表明，从水产养殖设施附近采集的样本受到重金属（Cd、Cu、Cr、Hg、Pb 和 Zn）和多环芳烃（芴、菲、蒽、荧蒽和芘）的严重污染。暴露于该特定地点沉积物的 H. diversicolor 个体表现出所有测试生物标志物中的最高值，这表明这些生物可能处于潜在的由人为污染引起的氧化应激状态。此外，可以得出结论，多毛类动物 H. diversicolor 对突尼斯东南沿海可能受到污染的沉积物的慢性暴露做出了反应，引发了具有重要生物学意义的适应性反应。
