Ecotoxicological assessment of water quality and ecosystem health: a case study of the Volga river / Moiseenko T. I., Gashkina N. A., Sharova Yu. N., Kudryavtseva L. P. // Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. - 2008. - Т. 71, № 3. - С. 837-850.

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 71 (2008) 83 7-850 ELSEVIER Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety jo u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e ls e v ie r .c o m /lo c a te /e c o e n v Ecotoxicological assessment of water quality and ecosystem health: A case study of the Volga River T.I. Moiseenko a *, N.A. Gashkina a, Yu.N. Sharova b, L.P. Kudryavtseva c a Water Problems Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Gubkina 3, GSP-1, Moscow 119333, Russia b Institute of Water Problems of the North, Karelian Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. A. Nevskogo 50, Petrozavodsk 185003, Russia cInstitute of Eco-Industrial Problems of the North, Kola Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Fersmana 14, Apatity 184200, Russia A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Received 26 February 2007 Received in revised form 24 January 2008 Accepted 24 February 2008 Available online 15 April 2008 Keywords: Ecotoxicological assessment Volga River Water quality Pollution Metal bioaccumulation Fish pathology Ecosystem health Critical levels A comprehensive assessment is presented o f the ecotoxicological situation in the Volga River basin from the view p oin t o f ecosystem health. Concentrations o f organic and inorganic toxic substances in w ater are reported. Basic clinical and postm ortem signs o f fish intoxication are described; changes in the cellular structure o f their organs and tissues, as w ell as disturbances in hemogenesis, developing under the effect o f toxic agents, are characterized. The com parative characteristics o f several m icroelem ents (N i, Cu, Sr. Al, Zn, Co, Mn, Pb, Cd, Hg, As) found in fish are presented. The main disturbances to fish caused by the accumulation o f m icroelem ents in their organs and tissues are also considered. Based on d ose-effect dependencies calculated w ith respect to the total concentration o f toxic substances, standardized to MPC, and fish health criteria, cases that exceed the critical levels o f pollutants are dem onstrated for the investigated river sections. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The most common approach to water quality assessment and setting environmental regulations, in Russia and elsewhere, has been based largely on the assessment of chemical attributes of anthropogenic pollution and the concept of Maximum Permissible Concentration (MPC) (1999) or Guideline Concentration (GC). The ecotoxicological approach to the estimation of water quality and ecosystem health is gradually becoming accepted by increasing numbers of researchers. Aquatic ecosystems are stressed at all levels, ranging from the individual level to the population and community (Cairns, 1990; Calow, 1992; Cash, 1995; Rapport, 1995; Attrill and Depledge, 1997). Many groups of organisms can be used as indicators of environmental and ecological change, but numerous publications attest that fish (in situ) are a good indicator of aquatic environmental change and ecosystem health, especially in the case of toxic water pollution. Pathological changes in fish organs enable us to determine the toxicity of water contaminants and the potential danger associated with anthropogenic substances in * Corresponding author. Fax: +7495135 33 20 . E-mail address: tatyana@aqua.laser.ru (T.I. Moiseenko). 0147-6513/$-see front matter о 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2008.02.025 water. Fish, in comparison with invertebrates, are more sensitive to many toxicants and are a convenient test subject for indication of ecosystem health (Adams and Ryon, 1994; Wong and Dixon, 1995; Wrona and Cash, 1996; Simon, 2000; Whitfield and Elliott, 2002; Elliott et al., 2003; Moiseenko, 2005). The Volga is the largest European river, with a catchment area of 1,360,000 km2. Large-scale contamination of the Volga River basin is caused by its geographical position within the most economically developed region of Russia. The Volga River basin contains 40% of the Russian human population, 45% of the country’s industry, and 50% of its agriculture. Domestic and agricultural sewage water, industrial wastewaters and air-borne pollution of the catchment area, as well as non-sewage effluents from settlements, find their way to this water basin. Several studies have demonstrated contamination of the water by heavy metals, oil products, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, biphenols, dioxins, and other chemical compounds, especially where in­ dustrial effluent is discharged (Rozenberg and Krasnoshchekov, 1996; Koronkevich and Zaitseva, 2003; State Report, 2003). However, existing data on toxic contamination of water with substances in the Volga River basin are discrepant for several reasons, including differing time periods used for investigation and analysis, non-coincident sampling sites, and insufficient capability of the measurement instruments used.