The Impact of Sublethal Concentrations of Treated Leachate on Nile tilápia (Oreochromis niloticus)

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 102; no. 4; pp. 519 - 524
• Main Authors: Gallão, Michel, Gnocchi, Karla G., Carvalho, Luciano R., Silva, Bruno F., Barbosa, Andressa N., Chippari-Gomes, Adriana R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-04-2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acute toxicity; Aquatic environment; Aquatic Pollution; Bioassays; Biomarkers; Comet assay; Damage; Damage detection; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA damage; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Fish; Genotoxic chemicals; Genotoxicity; Landfill; Landfills; Leachates; Leukocytes; Micronuclei; Oreochromis niloticus; Pollution; Soil Science & Conservation; Toxicity; Waste disposal sites; Waste treatment; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater treatment; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water pollution treatment; Biomarkers; Fish; Contaminants; Acute toxicity
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-019-02566-5

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of sublethal concentrations of treated landfill leachate on
Oreochromis niloticus
individuals after exposure for 96 h, by assessing biochemical, genotoxic and immunologic biomarkers. Among biochemical biomarkers (activities of ALT, AST and GST enzymes), the treated landfill leachate did not cause significant alterations on
O. niloticus
and did not significantly affect leukocytes used as an immunologic biomarker. On the other hand, treated leachate induced genotoxic damages, since an increase in erythrocytic micronuclei and in DNA damage (comet assay) were observed in fish exposed to all treatment (2, 4 and 6 mL L
−1
). Acute toxicity of treated leachate in
O. niloticus
caused only genotoxic changes in blood cells, showing that micronuclei and comet assay, together, are effective biomarkers in determining the acute toxicity of treated leachate in aquatic environments. This work also shows that leachate, although treated, caused some damages to
O. niloticus
, which indicates the employed treatment was not efficient in eliminating all genotoxic substances from the leachate.