Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8850728 | Chemosphere | 2018 | 46 Pages |
Abstract
The Iguaçu River is one of the largest and most important rivers in the Southern of Brazil. The Upper Iguaçu Basin is responsible for water supply (80%) of the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba (MRC). After crossing a large urban region, the river is polluted by domestic and industrial sewage, but despite of that few ecotoxicological studies have been performed in order to evaluate the water quality from Iguaçu River. The aim of the present study was to investigate the risk of exposure of Iguaçu water to biota and also human population. In this terms, was utilized the survival effect and the morphological deformities in larval embryos of Rhamdia quelen, a native South America species. The results showed a high level of pollution in all studied sites along the Upper Iguaçu River including PAHs and toxic metals such as lead. The lethal and non-lethal effects described in earlier stages of development suggest an elevated risk to biota. This data was corroborated by the theoretical model, showing that the pollutants present in water from Iguaçu River may further reduce the fish population density including risk of local extinction. The present study reflect the needs to conduct in-depth research to evaluate the real impact of human activities on the endemic fish biota of Iguaçu River including the risk for human populations.
Related Topics
Life Sciences
Environmental Science
Environmental Chemistry
Authors
Izabella de Andrade Brito, Juan Ramon Esquivel Garcia, Alexandre Barbosa Salaroli, Rubens César Lopes Figueira, César de Castro Martins, Alexandre Cordeiro Neto, Paloma Kachel Gusso-Choueri, Rodrigo Brasil Choueri, Sabrina Borges Lino Araujo,