Marine sponges as bioindicators of oil and combustion derived PAH in coastal waters Daniela Batista 1 , Karla Tellini, Adriana H. Nudi, Thaís P. Massone, Arthur de L. Scofield, Angela de L.R. Wagener * Laboratório de Estudos Marinhos e Ambientais, Departamento de Química, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, 22451-045 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil article info Article history: Received 2 July 2013 Received in revised form 24 September 2013 Accepted 27 September 2013 Keywords: Marine sponges Bioindicator Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Perna perna abstract The present study evaluates the potential of Hymeniacidon heliophila as bioindicator of PAH contami- nation. For this, concentration of 33 PAH was determined in organisms from sites with different contamination level including the heavily polluted Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, and less impacted coastal areas. PAH concentration and typology were determined in sponges collected from different depths and in two different seasons. The brown mussel broadly studied as bioindicator was also sampled from the same sites for comparison. Both species provided similar information on total PAH concen- tration which is related to site contamination level. Sponges, however, revealed slight tendency to accumulation of combustion-derived PAH in relation to petrogenic compounds. Differences in PAH ty- pology between species may derive from the interspecific variation in particle size ingestion. Different hydrocarbon typologies were observed in sponges from dry and wet season and PAH concentration varied with depth. H. heliophila may be used as an alternative approach to investigate the presence and sources of PAH in estuarine areas. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are among the most frequently found persistent organic pollutants in marine coastal areas, with main inputs arising from anthropogenic sources. These compounds are present in petroleum (petrogenic origin), however PAH can also be formed during the incomplete combustion of organic matter at high temperatures (pyrolytic origin) (Neff, 1979; Baird, 2002; Soclo et al., 2000). PAH can enter the marine envi- ronment through atmospheric deposition, road run-off and in- dustrial discharges, as well as through oil spills (Baumard et al., 1998). Compounds from pyrolytic sources are predominantly non-substituted high molecular weight (HMW) polyaromatic hy- drocarbons; while those present in oils are largely 2e4 ring alky- lated homologs (Steinhauser and Boehm, 1992). Due to the low water solubility and hydrophobicity (Log K OW > 4) PAH, in especial those of HMW, exhibit high affinity for particulate matter in the water column, and therefore, these contaminants can be removed to the sediments or accumulate in lipids-rich tissues of filter ani- mals. Such attributes make of PAH a major risk factor to ecosystem equilibrium (Gschwend and Schwarzenbach, 1992; Neff, 2002; Burattini and Brandelli, 2008). There are more than 30 PAH and derivatives known to cause carcinogenic, genotoxic and mutagenic effects in organisms (Neff, 1979; Bjørseth and Ramdahl, 1985). Due to their toxic effects, PAH have been the focus of several environ- mental studies and 16 parent compounds have been included as priority pollutant by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (ATSDR, 1995; Rey-Salgueiro et al., 2009). Increasing efforts have been made to develop integrative evalua- tion tools, involving both the biotic and abiotic compartments (Kramer et al., 1986; Cofino, 1989; Borja et al., 2009) as a better approach to understanding environmental impact of chemicals. Invertebrates have been preferably used to assess bioavailability of chemicals in coastal and estuarine waters (Baumard et al., 1998; Denton et al., 2006; Francioni et al., 2007a; Nudi et al., 2007, 2010) due to the higher capability to accumulate contaminants than vertebrates. One example of success was the US and Europe Mussel Watch Program that by using mainly bivalve mollusks of the genus Mytilus and Perna mapped PAH contamination in coastal areas of the Americas and of many European countries (Goldberg, 1975; Farrington et al., 1983; O’Connor, 1996). In the Brazilian coast, the * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ55 21 3527 1809. E-mail address: angela@puc-rio.br (A.deL.R. Wagener). 1 Present address: Laboratório de Bioincrustação, Divisão de Biotecnologia, Instituto de Estudos do Mar Paulo Almirante Moreira, Rio de Janeiro, 28930-000 Arraial do Cabo, Brazil. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Marine Environmental Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marenvrev 0141-1136/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2013.09.022 Marine Environmental Research 92 (2013) 234e243