Sediment quality in the Guadalquivir estuary: sublethal effects associated with the Aznalcóllar mining spill

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 153 - 163
• Main Authors: Riba, I, González de Canales, M, Forja, J.M, DelValls, T.A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 2004; Elsevier
• Subjects: Accidents; Agnatha. Pisces; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Bivalvia; Brackish; Contamination; Digestive System - pathology; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Flatfishes; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Gills - pathology; Gulf of Cádiz; Heavy metals; Histopathological lesions; Liver - pathology; Metals, Heavy - toxicity; Mining; Multivariate Analysis; Scrobicularia plana; Sediment toxicity; Solea senegalensis; Spain, Guadalquivir R; Water Pollutants - toxicity; Guadalquivir; Andalusia Spain; Spain, Guadalquivir; ANE, Spain, Andalucia, Guadalquivir Estuary; Spain, Guadalquivir Estuary; Gulf of Cádiz; Sediment toxicity; Multivariate analysis; Heavy metals; Contamination; Histopathological lesions; Brackish water environment; Toxicity; Alteration; Estuaries; Spill; Sediments; Stress; Heavy metal; Scrobicularia plana; Vertebrata; Histopathology; Bivalvia; Industrial waste water; Pisces; Water pollution; Lesion; Invertebrata; Mollusca; Acid mine drainage; Chemical contamination
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/S0025-326X(03)00392-8

As a complementary assessment of the impact of the Aznalcóllar mining spill on the Guadalquivir estuary two different sediment toxicity tests using fish ( Solea senegalensis) and clams ( Scrobicularia plana) were performed. The histopathological alterations by recording lesions at 15 and 30 days in fish to the gills, liver, gut and kidney and at 14 days in clams to the gills and gut were used to determine the adverse effects associated with the contaminants bound to sediments. The lesions measured at different tissues in both organisms show that the enrichment of heavy metals from the mining spill stressed some areas in the ecosystem of the estuary. The comparison of these effects with those lethal effects detected in the same samples using a multivariate analysis approach permits to identify the adverse effects associated with the accidental spill on the estuary. The incidence of the impact, located in specific areas of the estuary show an acute effect related to the spill.