Biochemical and physiological biomarkers in prochilodus lineatus

Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology xxx (2005) xxx–xxx

Biochemical and physiological biomarkers in Prochilodus lineatus submitted to in situ tests in an urban stream in southern Brazil

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Marina M.P. Camargo, Cl´ udia B.R. Martinez ∗ a 5

Departamento de Ciˆ ncias Fisiol´ gicas, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, C.P. 6001, 86051-990 Londrina, Paran´ , Brazil e o a 6

Accepted 5 July 2005

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Abstract

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Keywords: Biomarkers; Prochilodus lineatus; In situ test; Urban stream

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In urban aquatic environments fish may be exposed to a myriad of substances at the same time produced by different kinds of anthropogenic activities. The exposure to two or more chemicals may result in biological reponses quantitatively or qualitatively different from that expected from the action of the chemicals alone (Rand et al., 1995). In Brazil, as in other developing countries, criteria for the classification of water courses are exclusively based on physical and chemical factors (CONAMA,
1992) and chemical analyses are normally restricted to identification of a limited range of contaminants in water, mainly metals, and provide little information concerning the presence of organic contaminants such as hydrocarbons and pesticides in water and sediment. Therefore, alternative methodologies for water quality assessment and environmental monitoring other than chemical monitoring are urgent needed (Bozzetti and Schulz, 2004).
In situ tests are useful tools in ecotoxicology, mainly because they integrate ecological relevance in toxicity testing, by incor-

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1. Introduction

Corresponding author. Tel.: [phone]; fax: [phone].
E-mail address: [e-mail] (C.B.R. Martinez).

porating field fluctuations in a cost-effective way (Castro et al.,
2004). In this kind of field