Ecotoxicological assessment of estuarine surface waters receiving treated and untreated sanitary wastewater.

Autor: Dos Santos Mendonça JM; Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte - IFRN, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 1559, RN 59015-000, Natal, Brazil. jaisa.mendonca@ifrn.edu.br., Navoni JA; Postgraduate Program in Development and Environment at the, Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil.; Postgraduate Program in Sustainable Use of Natural Resources at the, Federal Institute of Rio Grande Do Norte, IFRN, Natal, Brazil., de Medeiros GF; Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte - UFRN, Campus Universitário Lagoa Nova, 1524, Natal, RN 59078-970, Brazil., Mina IMCAP; Biology Department - School of Sciences, University of Minho (DB-ECUM), Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental monitoring and assessment [Environ Monit Assess] 2022 Oct 17; Vol. 194 (12), pp. 908. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Oct 17.
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-022-10636-1
Abstrakt: Pollution from sewage discharge is one of the most critical environmental problems worldwide, e.g., in Brazil, where basic sanitation is still scarce. As pollution can affect biomes, especially estuaries where intensive ecological and human activities occur, has caused widespread concern. This work aimed to study the water quality of the Jundiaí/Potengi Estuary (JPE) in an area close to the discharge of treated and untreated wastewater for 18 months. Physicochemical and microbiological parameters were measured and integrated using the Water Quality Index of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. Ecotoxicological tests were performed with Brazilian endemic organisms to assess the impact of water pollution on biota. A generalized linear regression model was applied to understand the effects of water quality on ecotoxicological responses. Concentrations of metals, dissolved oxygen, total ammonia nitrogen, nitrate, and thermotolerant coliforms did not comply with Brazilian environmental regulations. A significant increase in the mortality rate of Mysidopsis juniae and Nitocra sp. and a significant decrease in the reproductive rate of Nitocra sp. indicated the most affected areas related to the discharge of treated and untreated wastewater. Only 10% of the samples from sites without direct wastewater impact showed a toxic response in at least one organism. Both water quality and sampling sites were statistical predictors of ecotoxicological response, describing not only the pollutant load but also the type of effluent. This study demonstrated the degradation of the environmental quality of the JPE, particularly due to the discharge of sanitary wastewater, and highlights the importance of protection and remediation measures to preserve this protected area.
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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