Departamento de Biologia & CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Instituto de Ciencias del Mar ICM-CSIC, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Nov 10;794:148512. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148512. Epub 2021 Jun 17.
The multiplicity and wide variety of applications of electrical and electronic equipment has largely increased with the technological and economic progress and, in consequence, the amount of generated waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Due to inappropriate processing and disposal of WEEE, different chemical elements and compounds, including rare-earth elements such as Lanthanum (La) have been released in the environment. Nevertheless, the environmental risks resulting from La presence are almost unknown, especially in marine systems, which may be challenged by foreseen climate changes such as water salinity shifts. Within this context, the present study aimed to understand the combined effects of salinity and La by assessing biochemical alterations in mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed to La (0 and 10 μg/L) at different salinity levels (20, 30 and 40). A decrease in salinity caused a wide range of biochemical changes to both non-contaminated and contaminated organisms, such as metabolism, antioxidant and biotransformation defenses activation, associated to hypotonic stress. Furthermore, the decrease in salinity enhanced the effects of La exposure seen as an increase on lipid and protein cellular damage in those exposed, probably due to free metal ions increase at lower salinities, resulting in a higher bioaccumulation and toxicity. In general, La exposure caused cellular damage and inhibition of antioxidant defenses in contaminated mussels when compared to non-contaminated ones, with cellular damages being higher at the lowest salinity. Overall, the present study highlights the need to investigate the presence and impacts of emerging contaminants of WEEE source at environmental relevant concentrations, not just at present but also under forecasted climate change scenarios, thus providing a more realistic environmental risk assessment.
电气和电子设备的种类繁多，应用广泛，随着技术和经济的进步，电气和电子设备产生的废物（WEEE）数量也大大增加。由于 WEEE 的处理和处置不当，包括镧（La）在内的不同化学元素和化合物已被释放到环境中。然而，La 存在所带来的环境风险几乎不为人知，尤其是在海洋系统中，这些系统可能会受到预期气候变化（如海水盐度变化）的挑战。在这种情况下，本研究旨在通过评估在不同盐度（20、30 和 40）下暴露于 La（0 和 10μg/L）的贻贝 Mytilus galloprovincialis 的生化变化来了解盐度和 La 的联合效应。盐度降低会导致未受污染和受污染的生物体发生广泛的生化变化，例如代谢、抗氧化和生物转化防御的激活，这与低渗应激有关。此外，盐度降低会增强 La 暴露的影响，表现为暴露组的脂质和蛋白质细胞损伤增加，这可能是由于低盐度下自由金属离子增加，导致更高的生物积累和毒性。总的来说，与未受污染的贻贝相比，La 暴露会导致受污染贻贝的细胞损伤和抗氧化防御抑制，而在最低盐度下细胞损伤更高。总体而言，本研究强调了需要在环境相关浓度下调查 WEEE 来源的新兴污染物的存在和影响，不仅要在当前，还要在预测的气候变化情景下进行，从而提供更现实的环境风险评估。
