Study of the biological impact of organic contaminants on mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis L.) from the Venice Lagoon, Italy: responses of CYP1A-immunopositive protein and benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase activity

A survey to evaluate the impact of organic contaminants on the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis in the Venice Lagoon, Italy was carried out in May 1993. M. galloprovincialis were sampled from putative moderately contaminated (Alberoni, Lio Grande, Crevan), urban (Salute) and industrial (CVE) sites in the Venice Lagoon, and from a clean reference site (Plataforma) in the adjacent Adriatic Sea. Measurements comprised (i) whole-tissue body burdens of aliphatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other organochlorines (DDTs, hexachlorocyclohexanes and hexachlorobenzene); and (ii) digestive gland microsomal cytochrome P450 (CYP)-dependent monooxygenase system (i.e. total CYP and cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A)-immunopositive protein levels, benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase (BPH) activity) as a specific biomarker of impact by organic contaminants. Chemical analysis identified a contaminant gradient with Plataforma as the cleanest and CVE followed by Salute as the most contaminated extremes. No elevation of total CYP content or CYP1A-immunopositive protein level was seen at any of the lagoon sites compared with Plataforma. In contrast, BPH activity and BPH turnover (i.e. BPH activity per amount total CYP) were respectively 1- and 2.5-fold higher at CVE than Plataforma (P < 0.05), and indicated to be higher (up to 1-fold) at all the other lagoon sites compared with Plataforma. Correlation was seen between BPH activity and tissue levels of total aliphatic hydrocarbons (r = 0.94-0.98), but not between the former and total PAHs or PCBs. The results are consistent with other studies in the area and indicate greatest biological impact of contaminants was at CVE followed by the other lagoon sites, with a possible genotoxic role for the elevated BPH activity in the formation of bulky DNA-adducts.