Multiple biomarker approaches to assess the effects of marine environmental contaminants on fish

Abstract

Marine ecosystems are complex and dynamic systems. Therefore,the interpretationo f resultsd erived from environmentalm onitoringbased only on measurements at the ecosystem level is extremelydifficult.R ecently,b iochemicaml arkersi ncludingm olecular,c ellularand physiologicaml easurementsh ave been identifieda s powerfuland cost-effectivea pproachest o obiain informationo n the state ofthe environment and the effects of pollution on living biologicalresources. The biochemical endpoints also have a high specificityand sensitivity to a limited range of environmental and chemicalstressorsa, lthoughb iochemicaml easurementsa re of low ecologicalrelevance.I n this study,w e evaluatef ish healths tatusw ith regardt ochemical exposure in coastal areas of the South Sea in Korea usinggeneralized linear model approach with selected biochemicalmarkersi n residentf rom uncontaminateda nd contaminateds ites.We also confirmedt he independenceb etween biochemicali ndicesand the morphometrici ndices includingt he hepato-somaticin dex(HSl),g onado-somaticin dex (GSl),a nd conditionf acior (CF) in fishfrom the sampling areas. The effect of area on the presence ofbiotransformationm arkers (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylasaec iivity EROD)w as significantlyh igh in Masan.T he area with the greatesteffect on acetylcholinesterase(A ChE) activity was Jindong Bay,while there was no significante ffecto f ludingm olecular,c ellularand physiologicaml easurementsh ave been identifieda s powerfuland cost-effectivea pproachest o obiain informationo n the state ofthe environment and the effects of pollution on living biologicalresources. The biochemical endpoints also have a high specificityand sensitivity to a limited range of environmental and chemicalstressorsa, lthoughb iochemicaml easurementsa re of low ecologicalrelevance.I n this study,w e evaluatef ish healths tatusw ith regardt ochemical exposure in coastal areas of the South Sea in Korea usinggeneralized linear model approach with selected biochemicalmarkersi n residentf rom uncontaminateda nd contaminateds ites.We also confirmedt he independenceb etween biochemicali ndicesand the morphometrici ndices includingt he hepato-somaticin dex(HSl),g onado-somaticin dex (GSl),a nd conditionf acior (CF) in fishfrom the sampling areas. The effect of area on the presence ofbiotransformationm arkers (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylasaec iivity EROD)w as significantlyh igh in Masan.T he area with the greatesteffect on acetylcholinesterase(A ChE) activity was Jindong Bay,while there was no significante ffecto f