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This study assesses the sediment quality of the Guadalquivir River watercourse between the Alcalá del Río dam and the city of Seville. The main objective of this work is to address sediment quality in the area using an integrative approach that links sediment contamination and toxicity using the Asiatic clam (Corbicula fluminea) under field conditions. This is the first study conducted in the area that use of a battery of biomarkers from exposure (GST, GPx) to adverse biological effect (DNA and histopathological damage) to identify the contamination adverse effects in a river area affected by a cocktail of different anthropogenic activities (urban, industrial, agricultural, etc.). The sediment quality characterized in the area shows a significant biological stress related to metal(loid)s at station located in Alcalá del Río in the river upper part of the studied area, being this stress toxic when approaching the city of Seville. The sediments located nearby this city showed toxicity by means of positive values in the biomarkers of effects measured in the caged clams and related to contaminants with an industrial and urban discharge origins. These results have shown the useful and strength of the biomarker approach used in this study that combines biomarker responses from exposure to effects and allows identifying the contamination adverse effects by means of using caging individuals of the Asian clam. It has been proved in the different experiments how once the exposure biomarkers reach a maximum value of their system the detoxification ability of the organisms is collapsed and then the biomarkers of effect are measured significantly in the different tissues. The use of field surveys using tolerant specie such as the Asian clam is recommendable to determine sediment quality under an integrative point of view as here reported., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The environmental quality of an acid mine drainage polluted river (Odiel River) in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Spain) was assessed by combining analyses of biomarkers (DNA strand breaks, LPO, EROD, GST, GR, GPx) in freshwater clams (Corbicula fluminea) exposed during 14 days and correlated with metal(loid) environmental concentrations. Results pointed that enzymatic systems are activated to combat oxidative stress in just 24 h. Along exposure, there were homeostatic regulations with the glutathione activity that influenced in lipid peroxidation oscillations, provoking significant DNA strand damage after 14 exposure days. EROD activity showed no changes throughout the exposure period. The Asian clam displayed balance biomarkers of exposure-antioxidant activity under non-stressfully environments; meanwhile, when was introduced into acid polymetallic environments, such as the acid mine drainage, its enzymatic activity was displaced towards biomarkers of effect and the corresponding antioxidant activity., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Carbon-capture and storage is considered to be a potential mitigation option for climate change. However, accidental leaks of CO 2 can occur, resulting in changes in ocean chemistry such as acidification and metal mobilization. Laboratory experiments were performed to provide data on the effects of CO 2 -related acidification on the chemical fractionation of metal(loid)s in marine-contaminated sediments using sequential extraction procedures. The results showed that sediments from Huelva estuary registered concentrations of arsenic, copper, lead, and zinc that surpass the probable biological effect level established by international protocols. Zinc had the greatest proportion in the most mobile fraction of the sediment. Metals in this fraction represent an environmental risk because they are weakly bound to sediment, and therefore more likely to migrate to the water column. Indeed, the concentration of this metal was lower in the most acidified scenarios when compared to control pH, indicating probable zinc mobilization from the sediment to the seawater., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Streams and rivers strongly affected by acid mine drainage (AMD) have legal vacuum in terms of assessing the water toxicity, since the use of conventional environmental quality biomarkers is not possible due to the absence of macroinvertebrate organisms. The Asian clam Corbicula fluminea has been widely used as a biomonitor of metal contamination by AMD in freshwater systems. However, these clams are considered an invasive species in Spain and the transplantation in the field study is not allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency. To evaluate the use of the freshwater bivalve C. fluminea as a potential biomonitor for sediments contaminated by AMD, the metal bioavailability and toxicity were investigated in laboratory by exposure of clams to polluted sediments for 14 days. The studied sediments were classified as slightly contaminated with As, Cr, and Ni; moderately contaminated with Co; considerably contaminated with Pb; and heavily contaminated with Cd, Zn, and specially Cu, being reported as very toxic to Microtox. On the fourth day of the exposure, the clams exhibited an increase in concentration of Ga, Ba, Sb, and Bi (more than 100 %), followed by Co, Ni, and Pb (more than 60 %). After the fourth day, a decrease in concentration was observed for almost all metals studied except Ni. An allometric function was used to determine the relationship between the increases in metal concentration in soft tissue and the increasing bioavailable metal concentrations in sediments.

The Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Iberian Peninsula) has intense mining activity. Currently, its fluvial networks receive extremely acid lixiviate residue discharges that are rich in sulphates and metals in solution (acid mine drainage, AMD) from abandoned mines. In the current study, the sediment and water quality were analysed in three different areas of the Odiel River to assess the risk associated with the metal content and its speciation and bioavailability. Furthermore, sediment contact bioassays were performed using the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea to determine its adequacy as a biomonitoring tool in relation to theoretical risk indexes and regulatory thresholds. Reburial activity and mortality were used as the toxic responses of clams when exposed to contaminated sediment. The results showed coherence between the water and sediment chemical contamination for most of the metals. The reburial activity was correlated with the metal toxicity, but no clam mortality was registered. The bioaccumulation of the studied metals in the clam did not have a significant correlation with the bioavailable fraction of the metal content in the environment, which could be related to a potential different speciation in this singular environment. The bioaccumulation responses were negative for As, Cd and Zn in highly contaminated environments and were characterized as severe, considerable and low potential environmental risks, respectively. The results show that C. fluminea is a good biomonitor of Cu and Pb., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)