Abstract
Indiscriminate disposal of residues of domestic and/or industrial origin in aquatic ecosystems resulting from urban activities causes concern about their effects on the fauna. Substances absorbed by animals, such as those cited above, are metabolized by the liver, as it is the main target organ of several pollutants and also exercises basic vital functions in the organism. For this reason the liver is used as the main and most reliable biomarker in environmental studies. Thus the objective of the present study was to identify hepatic alterations resulting from exposure to water contaminated by a few commercial brands of biodegradable detergents and their effects when present together with several other contaminants found in nature. For such, a solution of 1 ppm of biodegradable detergents and water from an urban lake were tested on two widely distributed native Brazilian fish (Astyanax altiparanae and Prochilodus lineatus). Several alterations were found on the liver, including cytoplasm vacuolization, nuclear displacement, macrophage recruitment and reduced liver glycogen, showing a degenerative process in the liver of the fish, due to the action of contaminants.
Highlights
According to Langiado and Martinez [1] environmental pollution is becoming a problem of greater concern because it has damaged the quality of water
Survival There were no deaths during the experiment with Astyanax altiparanae, but during exposure to the urban lake 100% of the individuals of Prochilodus lineatus died after 35 days, so that only one period of exposure could be sampled
Both the treatment with detergent dilution and the treatment that contained water from the urban lake showed hepatocytes with nuclei displaced to the periphery, some with vacuolized nuclei or at the beginning of vacuolization process, and cytoplasms at the beginning of vacuolization process, for both experimental periods—these results are summarized on Table 1
Summary
According to Langiado and Martinez [1] environmental pollution is becoming a problem of greater concern because it has damaged the quality of water. Water pollution is commonly associated with the discharge of domestic, industrial or agricultural effluents. These practices generating a large quantity of residues and unloading it on water bodies are a cheap and efficient way to get rid of most of these contaminants [3]. The main types of pollutants are metals, organic compounds This number grows annually, considering that new compounds and new formulations are synthesized [1] [3]. This concern was corroborated by Rodrigues & Fanta [4] who reported that if on the one hand the human population prospers, on the other it raises environmental risks due to production of new chemical elements that accompany this growth
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