title: How and where to perform biomonitoring studies: different levels of toxic metal pollution are detected in the Alagados Reservoir in Southern Brazil.
abstract: The Alagados Reservoir located in the Brazilian city of Ponta Grossa is used to supply water for human consumption but is impacted by toxic metals. The current study combined chemical, biochemical, and multivariate analyses to determine the bioavailability of toxic metals at three sites (AL-A, AL-B, and AL-C) within the Alagados Reservoir. Metal bioaccumulation was analyzed in the liver, gills, and muscle tissue of a native fish species (Geophagus brasiliensis), and neurotoxicity, xenobiotic metabolism, and oxidative stress were evaluated using biochemical biomarkers. Additionally, histopathological studies were performed on the gills and the liver using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and conventional light microscopy (LM), respectively. Overall, the bioaccumulation of metals, biomarkers of oxidative stress, and melanomacrophage counts indicate that the AL-C and the AL-A sites are the most and least affected by metals, respectively. The AL-B site presented the lowest acetylcholinesterase enzyme activity, a finding which was probably associated with the agricultural activities around this area of the reservoir. The biomarkers clearly revealed that toxic metals negatively affect all three sites studied herein and that human activity is the major source of pollutants. Despite the existence of different pollution levels within the Alagados Reservoir, it is still used as a human water supply.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biology, Laboratory of Cellular Toxicology, School of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Caixa Postal 19.031, Curitiba, PR, 81531-990, Brazil. halinaplant@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Halina Binde
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Doria
authors.affiliation: Ponta Grossa State University (UEPG), Research Group on Environmental and Sanitary Analytical Chemistry (QAAS), Av. General Carlos Cavalcanti, 4748, Caixa Postal 992, Ponta Grossa, PR, 84030-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carmen Lúcia
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.affiliation: Center for Ocean Studies, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Av. Beira Mar, Caixa Postal 61, Pontal do Paraná, PR, 83255-976, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sandrini-Neto
authors.affiliation: Ponta Grossa State University (UEPG), Research Group on Environmental and Sanitary Analytical Chemistry (QAAS), Av. General Carlos Cavalcanti, 4748, Caixa Postal 992, Ponta Grossa, PR, 84030-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sandro Xavier
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biology, Laboratory of Cellular Toxicology, School of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Caixa Postal 19.031, Curitiba, PR, 81531-990, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ciro Alberto
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: de Oliveira-Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biology, Laboratory of Cellular Toxicology, School of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Caixa Postal 19.031, Curitiba, PR, 81531-990, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Antonio Ferreira
authors.initials: MAF
authors.lastname: Randi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D000075322:Heavy Metal Poisoning; D006801:Humans; D011041:Poisoning; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioaccumulation; Biomarkers; Chronic toxicity; Geophagus brasiliensis; Reservoir; Toxic metals