title: Integrated environmental risk assessment of chemical pollution in a Mediterranean floodplain by combining chemical and biological methods.
abstract: The Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP) is a unique floodplain ecosystem in central Spain, serving as permanent resting and breeding areas for many waterbird species. In the last decades, this biodiversity hotspot has been severely endangered by poorly treated wastewater discharges from upstream urban communities arriving through its two major contributors, the Cigüela and Guadiana rivers. In this work, we analysed the potential risk of this constant input of micropollutants (estrogens, dioxin-like compounds and other endocrine disruptors) for the resident wildlife. We sampled 12 locations in TDNP and in the nearby Navaseca Pond during 2013, and performed a series of in-vivo and in-vitro bioassays, including Daphnia magna post-exposure feeding inhibition and recombinant yeast-based assays for dioxin-like and estrogenic activities. These results were then compared with the chemical composition of the samples, analysed by GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS, and evaluated according to their toxic potential as toxic equivalents or TEQ. The Navaseca Pond, heavily impacted by wastewater from the town of Daimiel, showed the highest levels of toxic compounds, estrogenic activity, and Daphnia toxicity. Conversely, the less impacted TDNP sites showed low residue levels of contaminants, low estrogenicity and dioxin-like activity and negligible toxicity. The results indicates that the current good chemical status of TDNP is menaced by both the inflow of wastewater treatment plants effluents from Guadiana and Cigüela rivers into TDNP tributaries and, as it occurs in the Navaseca Pond, by direct sewage discharges.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA, CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08017 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rivetti
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Jhon J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: López-Perea
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laguna
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA, CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08017 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Benjamín
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Piña
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mateo
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA, CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08017 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ethel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eljarrat
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA, CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08017 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Damià
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barceló
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA, CSIC), Jordi Girona 18, 08017 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: cbmqam@cid.csic.es.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barata
mesh_terms: D001681:Biological Assay; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000032:analysis; D055868:Floods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000068316:Parks, Recreational; D018570:Risk Assessment; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D013030:Spain; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D004967:Estrogens; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Contaminant; Endocrine disruption; Freshwater; Ramsar site; UNESCO biosphere reserve