Exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and DNA damage as an indicator of environmental stress in fish of different feeding habits of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico Donaji J. Gonza ´lez-Mille • Ce ´sar A. Ilizaliturri-Herna ´ndez • Guillermo Espinosa-Reyes • Rogelio Costilla-Salazar • Fernando Dı ´az-Barriga • Irina Ize-Lema • Jesu ´s Mejı ´a-Saavedra Accepted: 2 June 2010 / Published online: 20 June 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract The region of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz hosts one of the largest and most important industrial areas of Mexico and Latin America. Industrial development and rapid population growth, have triggered a severe impact on aquatic ecosystems of the region. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of POPs in sediment and in muscle tissue of five fish species from different trophic levels in downstream residents of the Coatzacoalcos River, and their integration with DNA damage in the fish, evaluated with the comet assay in whole blood as a biological indicator of stress, in order to obtain a baseline of the ecological con- dition of the region. The compounds detected in sediment and in muscle tissue were hexachlorobenzene (HCB), a-, b-, c-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), dichlorodiphenyltri- chloroethane (DDT), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), mirex and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Sediment concentrations of these pollutants (except for mirex) exceeded the values of protection provided by international guidelines, suggesting a potential risk to aquatic life in the region. DNA damage recorded in the fish species is evidence of exposure to a mix of genotoxic pollutants, which combined with exposure to POPs, reflects the degree of environmental stress of aquatic organisms in the region. The results of this study show the importance of determining the presence of contaminants in the environ- ment, the bioaccumulation in tissues and their effects on exposed organisms, providing an integrated approach in assessing the health of aquatic ecosystems. Keywords Persistent organic pollutants Á Comet assay Á Fish Á Sediments Á Coatzacoalcos River Introduction In recent decades, dependence on natural resources has become critical for mankind. Fishing is one of the most important resources exploited by humans worldwide (Lionetto et al. 2004). However, rapid population growth coupled with rapid industrial development and changing lifestyles have increased waste and emission of pollutants into aquatic environments (Staniskiene et al. 2006; Jha 2008). The contamination of these environments can have negative effects on aquatic life (e.g. impaired reproduction and reduced species diversity) and directly or indirectly affect human health and threaten food security (Jha op cit.). The industrial area of Coatzacoalcos houses the largest petrochemical complex with importance to Mexico and Latin America; its overall production is approximately 1.6 billion tons/year of petrochemical products (Morales et al. 2006). Since the industrial complex’s establishment in the 1960s, the Coatzacoalcos estuary has experienced rapid industrial development and rapid population growth; which, combined with other production activities like agriculture and livestock, have triggered a severe impact on aquatic ecosystems of the region, accentuated in recent D. J. Gonza ´lez-Mille Á C. A. Ilizaliturri-Herna ´ndez Á G. Espinosa-Reyes Á R. Costilla-Salazar Á F. Dı ´az-Barriga Á J. Mejı ´a-Saavedra (&) Departamento de Toxicologı ´a Ambiental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Auto ´noma de San Luis Potosı ´, Avenida Venustiano Carranza 2405, Col. Lomas Los Filtros, San Luis Potosı ´, SLP CP 78210, Me ´xico e-mail: jjesus@uaslp.mx I. Ize-Lema Instituto Nacional de Ecologı ´a (INE), Me ´xico, D.F. CP 04530, Mexico 123 Ecotoxicology (2010) 19:1238–1248 DOI 10.1007/s10646-010-0508-x