title: Yangtze Three Gorges Reservoir, China: A holistic assessment of organic pollution, mutagenic effects of sediments and genotoxic impacts on fish.
abstract: Besides obvious benefits, the Three Gorges Dam's construction resulted in new pollution scenarios with the potentials to threaten the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) ecosystem. In order to record organic contamination, to find links to ecotoxicological impacts and to serve as reference for ensuing monitoring, several sites in the TGR area were screened applying the triad approach with additional lines-of-evidence as a holistic assessment method. Sediments and the benthic fish species Pelteobagrus vachellii were sampled in 2011 and 2012 to determine organic pollution levels, mutagenic potentials and genotoxic impacts. Two regional hot-spots near the cities of Chongqing and Kaixian were identified and further investigated in 2013. Only polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) could be detected in sediments in 2011 (165-1653ng/g), emphasizing their roles as key pollutants of the area. Their ubiquity was confirmed at Chongqing (150-433ng/g) and Kaixian (127-590ng/g) in 2013. Concentrations were comparable to other major Chinese and German rivers. However, the immense sediment influx suggested a deposition of 216-636kgPAH/day (0.2-0.6mgPAH/(m(2)·day)), indicating an ecotoxicological risk. PAH source analysis highlighted primary impacts of combustion sources on the more industrialized upper TGR section, whereas petrogenic sources dominated the mid-low section. Furthermore, sediment extracts from several sites exhibited significant activities of frameshift promutagens in the Ames fluctuation assay. Additionally, significant genotoxic impairments in erythrocytes of P. vachellii were detected (Chongqing/Kaixian), demonstrating the relevance of genotoxicity as an important mode of action in the TGR's fish. PAHs, their derivatives and non-target compounds are considered as main causative agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: floehr@bio5.rwth-aachen.de.
authors.forename: Tilman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Floehr
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scholz-Starke
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Shanghai 200090, China.
authors.forename: Junli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: IWW Rhenish-Westfalian Institute for Water Research, 45476 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany; Institute for Applied Geosciences, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: IWW Rhenish-Westfalian Institute for Water Research, 45476 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bluhm
authors.affiliation: College of Resources and Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China.
authors.forename: Xingzhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany; College of Resources and Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roß-Nickoll
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Research Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schäffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; College of Resources and Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Research Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. Electronic address: Henner.Hollert@bio5.rwth-aachen.de.
authors.forename: Henner
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hollert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics*; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009154:Mutation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000633:toxicity; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Fish; Genotoxicity; Mutagenicity; PAH; Sediment; Three Gorges Reservoir; Triad approach; Yangtze