Unità Ecosistemi e Salute, Dipartimento Ambiente e Salute, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2020 Jan-Mar;56(1):114-121. doi: 10.4415/ANN_20_01_16.
Effect-based methods (EBMs), i.e. in vitro and in vivo bioassays, represent innovative tools for the effect detection of environmental chemical pollutants on living organisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the water quality of a river ecosystem implementing two in vivo bioassays on target freshwater animal species: the crustacean Daphnia magna and the small fish Danio rerio, also known as zebrafish.
The methods applied in this study, i.e. the Daphnia sp. Acute Immobilisation assay and the Fish Embryo Acute Toxicity (FET) test, are commonly used in water quality research and their application in short-term ecotoxicity detection is suggested by recent European projects. Two sampling sites were chosen in the urban part of the Tiber River in Rome, while a third one was chosen as a reference site in the Farfa River, a tributary upstream of the city. The sites in the Tiber River are potentially affected by different pollution sources, including urban and industrial wastewater discharges, the pesticide release, livestock waste products, and waste dumps.
The results of the study showed wide differences between the two applied bioassays. The FET test was generally more sensitive in detecting even low effects in all the water samples, but the strongest statistically results were observed with the D. magna Acute Immobilisation test. The results of this research confirm the effectiveness of EBMs in investigating and monitoring water chemical pollution, and stress the need for performing further studies, e.g. chemical analyses and other bioassays, to improve the knowledge of the health status of the Tiber River basin.
Further results will aim to support the local authorities in adopting measures to reduce and to eliminate the sources of chemical pollution in the study area.
基于效应的方法（EBMs），即体外和体内生物测定，代表了用于检测环境化学污染物对生物体影响的创新工具。本研究的目的是通过对目标淡水动物物种（甲壳类动物溞和小型鱼类斑马鱼）进行两种体内生物测定，评估河流生态系统的水质。
本研究中应用的方法，即溞属急性固定生物测定和鱼类胚胎急性毒性（FET）试验，在水质研究中广泛应用，最近的一些欧洲项目建议将其应用于短期生态毒性检测。在罗马的台伯河市区选择了两个采样点，而第三个采样点则选择在城市上游的法尔法河作为参考点。台伯河的这些采样点可能受到不同污染源的影响，包括城市和工业废水排放、农药释放、牲畜废物和废物倾倒。
研究结果表明，两种应用的生物测定之间存在广泛差异。FET 试验通常在所有水样中更敏感地检测到即使是低水平的效应，但 D. magna 急性固定试验的统计结果最强。本研究的结果证实了 EBMs 在调查和监测水化学污染方面的有效性，并强调需要进行进一步的研究，例如化学分析和其他生物测定，以提高对台伯河流域健康状况的认识。
进一步的结果将旨在支持地方当局采取措施减少和消除研究区域的化学污染源。
