scholarly journals New Insights into Impacts of Toxic Metals in Aquatic Environments

Environments ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Elise David ◽  
Claudia Cosio

Chemical contamination of the aquatic environment, as a consequence of anthropogenic activities, remains of major worldwide concern [...]

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Alves Resende ◽  
Vânia Lúcia da Silva ◽  
Claudio Galuppo Diniz

Abstract: From an anthropocentric perspective, aquatic environments are important to maintain health and survival, however, as they are sometimes managed based on misconception, they are considered a convergent pathway for anthropogenic residues and sanitation. Thus, it is observed that these ecosystems have been threatened by chemical pollution due to xenobiotics, especially from a more contemporary approach, by the selective pressure associated with antimicrobials. There are several studies that report the enrichment of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and mobilizable antimicrobial resistance genes in aquatic and adjacent ecosystems. From the perspective of the emerging and reemerging number of diseases related to the interplay of human, animal, and environmental factors, a new conception arose to address these issues holistically, which is known as the One Health approach. Scientific and political discourse on this conception should lead to effective action plans for preventing and controlling the spread of infectious diseases in open environment, including those impacted by anthropogenic activities. Therefore, nowadays, discussions on antimicrobial resistance are becoming broader and are requiring a multi-disciplinary view to address health and environmental challenges, which includes aquatic environment management. Water may represent one of the most important ecosystems for the in antimicrobial resistance phenomenon that arises when a dynamic and singular microbial community may be influenced by several characteristics. As antimicrobial substances do not all degrade at the same time under the same treatment, strategies concerning their removal from the environment should consider their individualized chemical characteristics.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Wartecki ◽  
Piotr Rzymski

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a severe respiratory disease caused by betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2, in 2019 that further developed into a pandemic has received an unprecedented response from the scientific community and sparked a general research interest into the biology and ecology of Coronaviridae, a family of positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. Aquatic environments, lakes, rivers and ponds, are important habitats for bats and birds, which are hosts for various coronavirus species and strains and which shed viral particles in their feces. It is therefore of high interest to fully explore the role that aquatic environments may play in coronavirus spread, including cross-species transmissions. Besides the respiratory tract, coronaviruses pathogenic to humans can also infect the digestive system and be subsequently defecated. Considering this, it is pivotal to understand whether wastewater can play a role in their dissemination, particularly in areas with poor sanitation. This review provides an overview of the taxonomy, molecular biology, natural reservoirs and pathogenicity of coronaviruses; outlines their potential to survive in aquatic environments and wastewater; and demonstrates their association with aquatic biota, mainly waterfowl. It also calls for further, interdisciplinary research in the field of aquatic virology to explore the potential hotspots of coronaviruses in the aquatic environment and the routes through which they may enter it.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8412
Author(s):  
Olivier Champeau ◽  
James M. Ataria ◽  
Grant L. Northcott ◽  
Gen Kume ◽  
Andrew Barrick ◽  
...  

The Matāura River is the sixth largest river system in New Zealand and has long been subject to agricultural, industrial, and residential land use activities. The catchment has economic value and is of great cultural importance for local Māori, who have concerns over potential adverse impacts that anthropogenic stressors exert on the health of the river. There is a dearth of information on the impacts of these stressors towards the health of native species such as the longfin eel Anguilla dieffenbachii. This study assessed the environmental status of the Matāura River using biological and chemical methodologies incorporating A. dieffenbachii as a bioindicator species for exposure to multiple anthropogenic stressors. A range of biomarkers were measured in caged and wild-caught eels (when available) to characterize site-specific responses to anthropogenic stressors. While there was no clear indication of cumulative impacts moving from pristine headwaters to the lower reaches of the Matāura River, biomarkers of xenobiotic metabolization were induced in A. dieffenbachia and there was evidence of chemical contamination in sediment and tissue samples.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1815-1830 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mantzorou ◽  
E. Navakoudis ◽  
K. Paschalidis ◽  
F. Ververidis

1983 ◽  
Vol 15 (S1) ◽  
pp. 37-42
Author(s):  
A Forester

Measurement of total or nominal pollutant concentration in the physical compartment of the aquatic environment (water, sediments, etc.) seldom gives a valid indication of the ultimate threat to the ecosystem. An alternative is to use a living organis to reflect the biological availability of the contaminant and to integrate its changing levels in the environment by monitoring over an extended period. Pelecypods have been used as indicators of marine coastal pollution, but have received relatively little attention in fresh waters. The large, unionacean clams and mussels show a number of features which suggest that they would be useful as monitors of biological availability of freshwater pollutants: ability to accumulate a wide variety of contaminants; mode of feeding; position on food chain; longevity; sedentary habits; facility with which their age can be determined; abundance; distribution; size and hardiness. The current programme is concerned with: (1) evaluating unionaceans as potential indicators and the factors that affect pollutant uptake; (2) development of the methodology for monitoring; and (3) characterisation of the pollutant status of Ontario shield lakes which are subject to direct inputs of toxic metals with the precipitation and their mobilisation through the ecosystem as a secondary function of environmental acidification.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danieli Conte ◽  
Jussara Kasuko Palmeiro ◽  
Adriane de Almeida Bavaroski ◽  
Luiza Souza Rodrigues ◽  
Daiane Cardozo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIn the present study, we characterized antimicrobial resistance profile and genetic relatedness of Aeromonas spp. isolated from healthcare and urban effluents, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and river water. We detected the presence of genes responsible for the resistance to β-lactam, quinolone, and aminoglycoside. Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus PCR and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were carried out to differentiate the strains and multilocus phylogenetic analysis (MLPA) was used to identify species. A total of 28 Aeromonas spp. cefotaxime-resistant strains were identified that carried a variety of resistance determinants, including uncommon GES-type β-lactamases. Multidrug-resistant Aeromonas spp. were found in hospital wastewater, WWTP, and sanitary effluent. Among these isolates, we detected A. caviae producing GES-1 or GES-5, as well as A. veronii harboring GES-7 or GES-16. We successfully identified Aeromonas spp. by using MLPA and found that A. caviae was the most prevalent species (85.7%). In contrast, it was not possible to determine sequence type of all isolates, suggesting incompleteness of the Aeromonas spp. MLST database. Our findings reinforce the notion about the ability of Aeromonas spp. to acquire determinants of antimicrobial resistance from the environment. Such ability can be enhanced by the release of untreated healthcare effluents, in addition to the presence of antimicrobials, recognized as potential factors for the spread of resistance. Thus, Aeromonas spp. could be included as priority pathogens under the One Health concept.IMPORTANCEAeromonas species are native bacteria in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. However, they have also been isolated from humans and animals. Globally, aquatic environments have been affected by anthropogenic activities. For example, the excessive use of antimicrobials in medical and veterinary practice causes the development of bacterial resistance. In addition, eliminated hospital and sanitary effluents can also serve as potential sources of bacteria carrying antimicrobial resistance genes. Thereby, impacted environments play an important role in the transmission of these pathogens, their evolution, and dissemination of genes conferring resistance to antimicrobials. Aeromonas spp. have been reported as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes in the environment. In this study, we identified a great repertoire of antimicrobial resistance genes in Aeromonas spp. from diverse aquatic ecosystems, including those that encode enzymes degrading broad-spectrum antimicrobials widely used to treat healthcare-associated infections. These are a public health threat as they may spread in the population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinaldo Luiz Bozelli

Abstract We are living a growing worldwide process of degrading the bases of sustaining life. In Brazil, this threat is intensified by the growing fragility of environmental protection structures. Ecological restoration is an alternative to face the degradation of aquatic environments. It has been employed on a larger scale in the developed regions of the planet, but with little convincing results. In Brazil, the experiences are few and specific, limited mainly by complexity and costs. It is necessary to think in a more agile way and act within the possibilities. The restoration with its classic strategies should give way to an “urgent restoration”. This approach considers that we have the basic ecological information and professionals able to act in the resumption of control of the ecological processes that have been altered. Restoration in the condition of urgency implies beginning to think of protection, as a first step, turning attention to the management of the watershed. The way to regain control of the process where it was lost is the integrated management that involves the rational use and protection of the ecosystem. Brazil’s commitment to the Paris climate agreement to restore 12 million hectares of forests and the restoration liabilities on private properties because of the recent Native Vegetation Protection Law are excellent opportunities to act in the integrated management of the river basin and to promote the protection of freshwaters by the restoration of native forests. The restoration of tropical freshwaters and especially the Brazilian ones is something urgent. However, possible solutions must be thought of and can only be constructed when one get involved most people related to the issue. The idea to be nurtured is that restoration involves thinking about the watershed because the threats are beyond the aquatic environment itself, the restoration then also needs to go beyond the aquatic environment itself.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lívia Caroline Alexandre de Araújo ◽  
Sivoneide Maria da Silva ◽  
Rafael Artur de Queiroz Cavalcanti de Sá ◽  
Ana Vitoria Araujo Lima ◽  
Amanda Virginia Barbosa ◽  
...  

Due to their mass production and intense consumption in human medicine, veterinary, and aquaculture, antibiotics have been widely detected in different ecosystems, leading to a growing worldwide concern. These and their byproducts are being continuously discarded in natural ecosystems via excretion of human and animal urine and feces, also domestic and hospital effluents. Residues of these drugs can persist in natural environments through bioaccumulation due to their difficult biodegradation. Also, they have a gradual deposition in sediments, aquatic surfaces, and groundwater. Studies have shown the presence of these drugs in aquatic environments, which can trigger severe changes in the composition and structure of the bacterial community, such as the ability to develop and propagate genes resistant to these pollutants. In this context, this review aims to address the effects of the antibiotics on microorganisms present in impacted aquatic environments.


Author(s):  
Olivier Champeau ◽  
James Ataria ◽  
Grant Northcott ◽  
Gen Kume ◽  
Andrew Barrick ◽  
...  

The Matāura River is the sixth largest river system in New Zealand and has long been subject to agricultural, industrial, and residential land use activities. The catchment has geographic and economic value and is of great cultural importance for local Māori, who have concerns over potential adverse impacts that anthropogenic stressors exert on the health of the river. There is a dearth of information on the impacts of these stressors towards the health of native species such as the longfin eel Anguilla dieffenbachii. This study assessed the environmental status of the Matāura River using biological and chemical methodologies incorporating A. dieffenbachii as a bioindicator species for exposure to combined anthroprogenic stressors. A range of biomarker endpoints were measured in caged and wild-caught eels (when available) to characterize site-specific responses to combined anthropogenic stressors. While there was no clear indication of cumulative impacts moving from pristine headwaters to the lower reaches of the Matāura River biomarkers of xenobiotic metabolization were induced in A. dieffenbachia and there was evidence of chemical contamination in sediments and tissues.


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