RAPID ASSESSMENT OF MARINE POLLUTION:

A HEALTH OF THE OCEANS PILOT PROJECT

 

" For the past 20 years the IOC-IMO-UNEP funded GIPME (Global Investigation of Pollution of the Marine Environment) programme has been working on issues regarding contaminants in the marine environment. Through method development programmes, workshops and intercalibration exercises, techniques have been developed to assess contaminant concentrations in many matrices. Through biological effects measurements techniques have been developed to investigate the effects of contaminants on marine organisms. Only a few techniques have been able to more rapidly assess "Hot spots" of contamination. The IOC’s Manual and Guides 13 provided a fluorescence technique for rapidly examining contamination of marine waters by petroleum hydrocarbons and tar on beaches. With the development of GOOS, scientists from within the GIPME programme have been involved in the development of the GOOS Health of the Ocean Panel and are continuing the work of contamination assessment.

Environmental managers are faced with the task of evaluating the extent of contamination and the degree of ecological damage in coastal regions. In developing countries their efforts may be severely handicapped by the lack of resources for conducting field work and to perform state-of-the-art chemical and biological assays. There are often few trained personnel to undertake such tasks. Techniques are required that are simple to use and inexpensive, but which provide the basis for prioritising among sites, so that the limited resources available can be expended efficiently and effectively. One of the aims of the HOTO Panel is to provide sensitive rapid assessments of contamination caused by discharges of sewage and chemical pollutants, as well as by physical stresses associated with land reclamation and development of coastal areas. Considering that 2 large numbers of people rely on seafood for their protein intake, there is a growing need to provide the tools required to help these managers make more rapid scientific assessments.

In 1997, a pilot project, Rapid Assessment of Marine Pollution (RAMP), was initiated in Brazil to test and provide easy-to-use, inexpensive chemical and biological markers to assess pollution and improve environmental management. Techniques were devised to provide effective screening alternatives to the more costly procedures currently used in Europe and the USA. The newly validated techniques are being introduced into Brazil to facilitate a preliminary survey of more than 8000 km of coastline.

Immunoassay-based tests provide an inexpensive, rapid and highly selective means of measuring specific chemical compounds and have been used to diagnose medical conditions for many years. Recently the technology has been directed towards environmental contaminants in water, food and soil samples. The analyses can be run by relatively unskilled personnel in the field and provide obvious advantages for developing countries. Limited trials have proved of great interest and some environmental agencies are discussing incorporation of such techniques for screening. The purpose of the chemistry element of RAMP is to evaluate the applicability of currently available test kits and to develop and refine complimentary protocols such as utilising solid phase extraction devices. Intercomparisons are being made using more traditional chromatographic mass spectrometric techniques. The choice of determinants amenable to detection by the rapid chemical analyses procedures is broad and thus the most relevant contaminants were selected following surveys and discussions with the Brazilian partners. PAH, PCB’s, organochlorine and organophosphorous pesticides, selected herbicides and fungicides have all been identified as relevant environmental contaminants/pollutants.

With regard to the detection of biological effects, the biomarker approach has been adopted. Biomarkers are defined as "biochemical, cellular, physiological or behavioural variations that can be measured in tissue or body fluid samples, or at the level of whole organisms that provide evidence of exposure to and/or effects of, one or more chemical pollutants". The biomarker approach was developed originally to chart the exposure of organisms to contaminants. For example, exposure to organophosphate and carbamate pesticides is signalled by cholinesterase inhibition, exposure to certain trace metals by metal binding protein (metallothionein) induction and exposure to a range of organics by induction of enzymes of the mono-oxygenase system. General toxicity which is reflected in the onset of cellular pathology can be detected using the neutral red lysosomal assay. More recently biomarkers have been used to detect and monitor ecologically significant effects such as changes in growth rate, reproductive output and the survival of offspring. In South America, the biomarker approach is in its infancy but some leading laboratories are developing a capability in this area. The biomarkers used in the RAMP programme are simple to use, inexpensive and reliable. They provide a means of detecting deterioration in the condition of biota from contaminated sites.

Integration of chemical tests and biomarker measurements into a single management protocol provides a novel means of rapidly assessing environmental quality

Progress to date in Brazil has been excellent. Personnel from the Brazilian partner laboratories have been trained in Plymouth to perform both the chemical and biological assays. Equipment has also been shipped to all participating laboratories. In autumn 1998 a workshop was held at Ubatuba (Saõ Paulo), Brazil, where all the participants gathered to demonstrate their proficiency with the techniques and to plan field work. Initial studies are being carried out in three major areas - Guanabara Bay, Santos Bay and Iguape Bay - which are impacted to different extents by a wide range of contaminants and other anthropogenic stresses.

The RAMP project was adopted as a HOTO pilot project at the Singapore HOTO meeting in 1997. Based on the early success of the work, plans are being developed to perform RAMP programmes in the Caribbean region in mid-1999 and in Vietnam in the near future. In addition, a modified suite of procedures is being developed for application in riverine and estuarine ecosystems. The HOTO group will be testing these methods in many other areas in the near future and those interested in this process should contact the authors.Ë

 

Mike Depledge,
Tony Knap,
HOTO Panel
e-mail: m.depledge@plymouth.ac.uk
e-mail: knap@bssr.edu