Evaluation in situ of genotoxicity and stress in South American common toad Rhinella arenarum in environments related to fluorite mine

POLLO, FAVIO, E.; GRENAT, PABLO R.; SALINAS, ZULMA A.; OTERO, MANUEL A.; SALAS, NANCY E.; MARTINO, ADOLFO L.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Lugar: HEIDELBERG; Año: 2017 vol. 24 p. 18179 - 18187

0944-1344

Little attention has been paid to the impact of wastewater generated by miningactivities on fluoride. In this study, we evaluated the hematology responses of commonSouth American toad Rhinella arenarum inhabiting natural and artificial environmentsassociated with a fluorite mine from central Argentina. We analyzed three samplingstations associated with the fluorite mine: I) Los Cerros Negros stream (CN), whichruns on granitic rock with a high fluorite content; II) Los Vallecitos stream (LV), whichruns on metamorphic rock with low fluorite content and III) artificial decantation ponds(DP) containing sediments produced by fluorite flotation process. We calculatedfrequencies of micronuclei, erythrocyte nuclear abnormalities, mitosis and immatureerythrocytes. In addition, we performed a differential leukocyte count and determinedneutrophils/lymphocyte ratio as a stress-response estimator. We found high MN andENA frequencies in DP and CN, but low frequencies in LV. The neutrophils/lymphocyteratio was different among sites, with a significant increase in individuals from DP.Values registered in DP could be caused by exposure to mixture of compoundsregistered in dams that hold wastewater, while high values registered in CN streammight be due to natural concentrations of fluoride. Our results suggest that blood is aneffective and non-destructive sensitive indicator for monitoring genotoxic agents infreshwater ecosystems.