Heavy Metals Concentration and Metallothionein Content in Resident

HEAVY METALS CONCENTRATION AND METALLOTHIONEIN CONTENT IN RESIDENT AND CAGED MUSSELS MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS FROM RIJEKA BAY, CROATIA Lorena Perić1, Maja Fafanđel1, Marin Glad2, Nevenka Bihari1 1 –Ruđer Bošković Institute, Center for Marine Research, G.Paliaga 5, 52210 Rovinj, Croatia 2 – Teaching Institute of Public Health, Primorsko Goranska County, Krešimirova 52a, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia SUMMARY Among them, metals are considered as potentially highly toxic and capable to induce a whole range of Concentration of lead, cadmium, mercury, deleterious processes ultimately decreasing the arsenic, copper, zinc, chromium, nickel, manganese quality of marine ecosystem. and iron and metallothionein content were examined Bivalve mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis are in resident and caged mussels (Mytilus bioindicator organisms frequently used for galloprovincialis) at five sites along Rijeka Bay, a monitoring the quality of coastal waters [3] and are coastal ecosystem highly susceptible to urban and commonly employed for assessment of heavy metal industrial pollution. Higher concentration of metals pollution [4-8]. Exposure of a variety of marine was found in resident mussels, with the highest level organisms, including mussels, mainly to cadmium, in comparison to control site Lim detected for lead, copper and zinc, is associated with induction of copper and chromium. Caged mussels from all sites metallothioneins, low molecular weight, cysteine displayed increasing level of metals with respect to rich cytosolic polypeptides involved in homeostasis control site Lim after one month of exposure. of essential and detoxification of non-essential Significantly elevated metallothionein content was metals [9-11]. Metallothionein content determination found in resident mussels at all sites except is employed for assessment of adverse biological Kraljevica shipyard, and in caged mussels at sites effects of metals pollution [12-15]. Luka Rijeka harbour and urban area Bakar. PCA In this study, heavy metal concentration and analysis revealed that mussels resident to urban area metallothionein content were determined in resident of river Rječina mouth, Rijeka harbour and Treći and caged mussels from Rijeka Bay, to evaluate the Maj shipyard were clearly separated from Kraljevica extent of metal pollution and to provide the baseline shipyard due to different pattern of metal data for future monitoring of the anthropogenic bioaccumulation and metallothionein content. impact in this economically important region of the Resident mussels from urban area of Bakar and north-eastern Adriatic. Rijeka Bay is surrounded by caged mussels were less influenced by metal load. many land-based sources of contamination spread along the coastline related to heavy industries and KEYWORDS: urban wastewater. Consequently, a wide range of Mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, Metal exposure, metals are released directly into to the sea, by flows Metallothionein content, PCA analysis. through the coastal waters and rivers, or from distant sources by atmospheric transport as evidenced by INTRODUCTION recent report on sediment metal concentration [16- View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk CORE 17]. brought to you by To evaluate the risk for integrity of marine ecosystem, with respect to increasing trends in MATERIALS AND METHODS urbanization and industrialization along the coastal zones, the marine monitoring programs have been Five sampling sites along Rijeka Bay selected widely implemented since the late 70-ties [1]. The for the study were located in the proximity to health status of coastal areas is assessed by chemical discharge points of urban sewage and industrial analysis of biota, water and sediment and by outlets and within the zone of intensive marine monitoring of biological effect of contaminants [2]. traffic (Figure 1 and Table 1). 1 FIGURE 1 - Geographic location of sampling sites. TM - Treći maj; LR - Luka Rijeka; UR - river Rječina mouth; BK - Bakar; KR - Kraljevica; LIM - control site of origin. TABLE 1 - Sampling site codes, short description and environmental parameters. Site code Description Temp. (°C) pH Sal. (‰) DO (mg/l) LIM Mariculture (control site of origin) 19.0 7.99 35.71 8.20 TM Shipyard 19.5 8.10 35.29 8.33 LR Harbour, industry, urban runoff 19.0 8.06 27.30 8.34 UR River mouth, urban runoff 17.5 8.16 16.40 10.85 BK Urban runoff 19.0 7.74 13.38 10.04 KR Shipyard, urban runoff 19.0 7.88 27.78 7.67 Abbreviations: Temp, temperature; Sal, salinity; DO, dissolved oxygen The study was carried out in April 2006, in the determined using Mettler Toledo - SevenMulti® period of lowest influence of temperature and meter, whereas dissolved oxygen (DO) was reproductive processes on the metal accumulation measured using Winkler method (Table 1). and metallothionein induction [18-19]. Following collection, the soft tissue of thirty Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincials mussels was dissected with a clean scalpel blade, Lam.) of shell length 5-6 cm, and weight 15 – 20 g, pooled, freeze-dried and homogenized according to were purchased from aquaculture farm within the AOAC Official Method 937.07 [20]. Aliquots (1g) inner part of Lim Bay (site Lim) on the north eastern of mussels’ tissue sample were added with 5 ml of part of Adriatic Sea. Site Lim was considered as 65 % HNO3 and subsequently digested in a control site. In accordance with previous microwave oven (MLS 1200 MEGA, “exhaust biomonitoring studies [13], site Lim was considered module” EM-45/A, Milestone, Italy) according to as control site, since it is far from urban and standardized procedure (HRN EN 14084). The industrial influence. Mussels were transported in wet digested samples were then diluted 5 times (v/v) and cool plastic containers to selected sites within with Mili-Q water. Lead, cadmium, arsenic, copper, two hours from collection. Sets of randomly chosen chromium, nickel, manganese and iron were animals were placed in synthetic mesh and analysed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry immersed close to the mussels resident to sampling (Perkin Elmer, Analyst 600) in a graphite oven with site. After one month of exposure, caged mussels as autosampler (Perkin Elmer AS 800). Zinc was well as mussels resident to investigated sites, were analyzed using air acetylene flame atomic simultaneously collected, transported to the absorption spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer, AS laboratory as described above, and immediately 200) and mercury was analyzed with cold-vapour processed. Water temperature, pH, salinity were flow injection Mercury System (Perkin Elmer, FIAS 2 400) supplemented with Autosampler (Perkin Elmer, from all sites and from control site Lim are given in AS 90). Metallothionein content was determined Figure 2. Generally, both resident and caged mussels using spectrophotometric method based on the displayed elevated concentration of metals with estimation of the sulfhydryl residue content [21]. respect to mussels from control site Lim. Five pools were prepared from three digestive Differences in the accumulation pattern of metals glands (fifteen mussels in total per site) and were observed between resident and caged mussels. homogenized in three volumes of ice-cold 20 mM Lead, copper and chromium generally displayed Tris–HCl buffer, pH 8.6, containing 0.5 M sucrose, the most notable increase both in resident and caged 0.006 mM leupeptin, 0.5 mM PMSF and 0.01% β- mussels in comparison to control site Lim. mercaptoethanol using Teflon Potter homogenizer. The concentrations of lead found in the tissues The homogenate was centrifuged at 15000g for 30 of resident mussels were near or above 6 mg/kg d.w, min (+4ºC) and the pellet discarded. Aliquots of 1 with exception of urban site UR. As for the caged ml of supernatant were added with 1.05 ml of cold mussels, the highest concentration was found in LR ethanol (−20°C) and 80 μl chloroform, and harbour (4.3 mg/kg d.w.). Levels of lead above 5 centrifuged at 6000g for 10 min. Metallothioneins mg/kg d.w. were recently found within Rijeka Bay present in the supernatant were collected by by other authors [23-24] indicating an ongoing trend precipitation with three volumes of cold ethanol in the input of this metal possibly due to nearby (−20°C), kept at −20°C for 1 h and centrifuged at intensive anthropogenic activities. Contamination of 6000g for 10 min. The pellets were then dissolved sediment with lead recently found within the zone with 87% ethanol and 1% chloroform in 0.5 M investigated in this study was also strongly related to sucrose homogenizing buffer and dried. The anthropogenic input, mainly in relation to port metallothionein content was evaluated by activities and oil refinery [16-17]. In general, lead colorimetric method using Ellman's reagent (5.5 concentrations reported in this study fall within the dithiobis 2 nitrobenzoic acid, DTNB) [22]. Pellets range of values previously found in polluted hot were re-suspended in 300 μl of solution containing 5 spots along the eastern Adriatic coast [5-6,24] and mM Tris–HCl buffer with 1 mM EDTA at room some Mediterranean areas [15]. However, they were temperature. Aliquots of 4.2 ml containing 0.2 M lower than those recently reported sites under urban Na-phosphate buffer pH 8.0 and 0.43 mM DTNB and industrial impact along the south eastern were added to the suspension of pellets. Following Adriatic coastal zone [25]. 30 minutes of incubation and final centrifugation of Resident mussels displayed concentration of samples at 6000g for 10 min, the absorbance of the

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