Biomarkers of oxidative stress in pine needles as a tool for the assessment of atmospheric pollution in Patagonia, Argentina

MITTON F. M., MENONE M.L, LUKASZEWICZ G, MONSERRAT J.M., FILLMANN, G.,GONZALEZ M., MIGLIORANZA K. S. B.

Milán

Congreso; SETAC Europe 21st Annual Meeting; 2011

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are of environmental concern due to their recalcitrance, global distribution, and toxicity. Pollutants are known to generate Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) formation, however,  organisms have evolved multiple antioxidant defense wich include both enzymatic and non-enzymatic complex system. The aim of this work was to assess different oxidative stress biomarkers in pine needles in response to atmospheric pollution in the Patagonian region of Argentina. Levels of lipid peroxidation (MDA), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity and total antioxidant capacity (ACAP) were evaluated in pine needles (Pinus sp.) at longitudinal (Rio Negro watershed) and latitudinal (Patagonia) scale by performing a network of 20 sampling stations that were selected on the basis of previous work about atmospheric pollution monitoring.  The Rio Negro watershed showed higher ACAP and GST activity than latitudinal sampling stations. Particularly, V. Regina station settled in the upper Rio Negro, showed the highest biomarker values. These results are in agreement to the fact that V. Regina constitutes an intensive fruit production area known to be a hot spot for POPs like DDTs, endosulfans and PBDEs. Moreover, a decrease gradient in the biomarkers levels from west to east was observed which was expected considering data about atmospheric POPs levels. In the latitudinal transect, the northest sampling station (Bahia Blanca), presented the highest ACAP, GST and MDA levels with decreasing values to the southest station. As was observed in V. Regina,  results suggest a relationship between biomarkers and POPs levels.  Although they could be mainly attributed to the insecticide endosulfan the influence of other pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic  hydrocarbons should not be discarded.  On the contrary, in the southest station (Rio Gallegos) a non direct relationship between biomarkers and POPs concentrations was observed. In conclusion, the results suggest that the studied biomarkers would be a useful tool in the assessment of  atmospheric pollution associated with POPs occurrence. Considering the wide range of temperature variation among stations, future research focusing on the analyses of pine needle lipid classes, and temporal monitoring of POPs and biomarkers will be carried out.