Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts blog

An extensive study of the long-term environmental effects of the 2002 Prestige oil spill has been undertaken by a group from The University of the Basque Country, headed by Miren Cajaraville and Ionan Marigomez.  These HOT articles describe a series of biomarkers for monitoring the response of mussel populations to the disaster off the northern coast of Spain.

Mussels are often used to assess the impact of various alterations in marine ecosystems, from climate change to chronic pollution.  Here, changes in lysomal response and histopathology of digestive gland tissues were analysed to build a picture of the long-term effects of the oil spill. These, combined with others, form a battery of biomarkers which the group use to infer the health of the overall ecosystem.

The group found severe disruption of biological processes in the mussel populations studied, but promisingly many of the mussel populations returned to a state of relatively good health within a few years of the disaster.  It is hoped that future studies can use similar batteries of biomarkers to monitor ecological disaster recovery.

You can read the full papers online here – they’re free to access for 4 weeks:

Application of a battery of biomarkers in mussel digestive gland to assess long-term effects of the Prestige oil spill in Galicia and the Bay of Biscay: Lysosomal responses
Larraitz Garmendia, Urtzi Izagirre, Miren P. Cajaraville and Ionan Marigómez
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00409J, Paper

Application of a battery of biomarkers in mussel digestive gland to assess long-term effects of the Prestige oil spill in Galicia and Bay of Biscay: Tissue-level biomarkers and histopathology
Larraitz Garmendia, Manu Soto, Unai Vicario, Yungkul Kim, Miren P Cajaraville and Ionan Marigómez
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00410C, Paper

Also in the same series of work check out the group’s previous paper:

Effects of the fuel oil spilled by the Prestige tanker on reproduction parameters of wild mussel populations
Maren Ortiz-Zarragoitia, Larraitz Garmendia, María Carmen Barbero, Teresa Serrano, Ionan Marigómez and Miren P. Cajaraville
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 84-94
DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00102C, Paper

It goes without saying that the impact of building a new nuclear power plant on the surrounding area must be monitored, and the new Kudankulam plant on the south eastern tip of India is no exception.

M. Feroz Khan and colleagues from Sadakathdulla Appa College, India, have carried out a careful study into the current activity levels of certain radionucleotides in edible crabs to establish baseline data for the Kudankulam coast.  Crabs have been studied comparatively little in comparison to other marine animals but are extremely relevant study specimen given the proximity to a major Indian tourist destination and the popularity of seafood.

The study highlighted significant differences in accumulated concentrations of the two radionucleotides  and notably found that the concentrations of both were reduced in the crab meat – well within international standards for safe consumption.

So for now we can chow down happily on our crab cakes – but it will be interesting to see how this data compares to future studies, once the new plant is operational.

To read the full report download the paper – it’s free to access until the end of February!

Biomonitoring 210Po and 210Pb in marine brachyuran crabs collected along the coast of Kudankulam, Gulf of Mannar (GOM), India
M. Feroz Khan, S. Umarajeswari and S. Godwin Wesley
J. Environ. Monit., 2011
DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00723D

Lorena Rios and colleagues at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, USA, have
found that floating plastic debris in the ocean adsorbs pollutants found in the water. Pollutants including PCB’s(polychlorinated byphenyls) in marine environments normally tend to accumulate in sediments. This research, however, shows that plastic debris acts like a floating version of sediments – absorbing and concentrating pollutants from seawater.

Plastic debris from the Pacific Ocean

Plastic pollution is a big issue because plastic materials do not readily biodegrade. They remain a
source of toxins (including endocrine disruptors) to marine organisms over a long period. Considerable challenges lie ahead to address this problem: “The dangers of ingestion of contaminated plastic by marine creatures is an important but difficult message to convey to the general public” explains Rios.

Find out more from the full article