A Biomonitoring Study Assessing the Residual Biological Effects of Pollution Caused by the HAVEN Wreck on Marine Organisms in the Ligurian Sea (Italy) A. Viarengo Æ F. Dondero Æ D. M. Pampanin Æ R. Fabbri Æ E. Poggi Æ M. Malizia Æ C. Bolognesi Æ E. Perrone Æ E. Gollo Æ G. P. Cossa Received: 29 August 2005 / Accepted: 25 March 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007 Abstract Residual biological effects of the 1991 HAVEN oil spill off the Ligurian (Arenzano) coast were assessed in this study. Samples of the fish species Boops boops, Mullus barbatus, and Uranoscupus scaber were collected from two polluted sites near the HAVEN wreck and from an uncontaminated area. In addition to this, mussels were caged along the coast affected by the HAVEN disaster. The physiological status of fish and mussels was assessed using a battery of stress and exposure biomarkers. The PAH content of mussel and fish tissues was also analyzed. Significant biological responses were observed in lysosomal membrane stability, neutral lipid and lipofuscin accumulation and micronucleus frequency for mussels caged at two sites close to the HAVEN wreck. Chemical analyses indicated, however, that these effects are not caused by aromatic hydrocarbons. For this reason, we suggest that the aftermath of the HAVEN disaster contributes very little to coastal ecosystem pollution. This was also confirmed by the few biological effects observed in fish specimens (Boops boops) collected from surface waters. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that ben- thic fish displayed a stress syndrome potentially caused by aromatic hydrocarbons released from the oil tanker, as witnessed by an enhanced EROD activity and increased lipofuscin and neutral lipid lysosomal contents. Keywords Biomonitoring Á aromatic hydrocarbons Á bioindicators Á biomarkers Á fish Á mussel Introduction On April 11, 1991, while the Cypriot oil tanker HAVEN was anchored six miles off the coast of Arenzano in the Ligurian sea (Northwest Mediterranean), two violent explosions started a fire onboard the ship, which lasted for 70 h, burning 40,000 tons of petroleum (heavy Iranian crude oil) onboard, while 10,000 tons was leaked into the sea and the remaining oil (about 90,000 tons) sank along with the carrier. The hull broke into three parts, all of which sank. Hydrocarbons released from the HAVEN oil tanker produced bituminous formations. The main body of the ship continued to burn right up until the moment it sank on April 14 (ENEA 1992; Relini 1994). In 1997, 6 years after the HAVEN ecological disaster, a marine biomonitoring program has been developed, with the aim of assessing the possible long-term effects of A. Viarengo (&) Á F. Dondero Environmental and Life Sciences Department (DISAV), University of Piemonte Orientale, Via V. Bellini 25/G, 15100 Alessandria, Italy e-mail: viarengo@unipmn.it D. M. Pampanin IRIS-International Research Institute of Stavanger, Merjarvik 12, N-4070 Randaberg, Norway R. Fabbri Á E. Poggi Á M. Malizia Centro Interuniversitario di Chimica e Biologia dei Metalli in Traccia, U ` niversita di Genova, 16100 Genova, C.so Europa, Italy C. Bolognesi Á E. Perrone Toxicological Evaluation Unit, Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Largo Benzi 10, 16100 Genova, Italy E. Gollo Agenzia Regionale per l’Ambiente Regione Liguria, Piazza della Vittoria 15/C, 16121 Genova, Italy G. P. Cossa Agenzia Regionale per l’Ambiente Regione Piemonte, Via Santa Caterina 30, 15100 Alessandria, Italy 123 Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 53, 607–616 (2007) DOI 10.1007/s00244-005-0209-2