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Issue Aquat. Living Resour. Volume 17, Number 3, July-September 2004 The "Erika" Oil Spill: Environmental Contamination and Effects in the Bay of Biscay Page(s) 297 - 302 DOI 10.1051/alr:2004035

Aquat. Living Resour. 17 (2004) 297-302
DOI: 10.1051/alr:2004035

Monitoring of immunotoxic responses in oysters reared in areas contaminated by the "Erika" oil spill

Michel Auffret, Matthieu Duchemin, Sabrina Rousseau, Isabelle Boutet, Arnaud Tanguy, Dario Moraga and Alain Marhic

Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement marin, UMR 6539-LEMAR, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, 29280 Plouzane, France

(Received 10 February 2004; Accepted 30 July 2004 )

Abstract
Immunological alterations may be used as ecotoxicological biomarkers to detect and monitor biological effects of chemical contaminants in polluted environments. This study reports on a survey of Pacific oysters from the Atlantic coast of Britanny (France) after the "Erika" oil spill. Reared stocks were sampled twice a year from November 2001 to March 2003 at three impacted sites and at an additional site outside the spill area. A multiparametric diagnosis of the immune system was performed on individual hemolymph samples to identify structural, immunopathological alterations and functional impairment of immunocompetent cells. One year after the spill, severe immunological alterations were observed in a site heavily impacted by oil. Since the oysters there had higher contents of PAH compared to the other sites, it was suggested that chronic contamination, possibly generated by oil trapped in the sediments, had induced immunotoxicity. Moreover, moderate variations in some hemolymph parameters observed at the non-impacted area strongly suggested that natural environmental factors may have generated physiological stress. An immunotoxicological index applied here in order to integrate all measurements of defense-related functions appeared to be an efficient tool to identify samples suffering immunological stress.

Key words: Immunotoxicology / Bivalve molluscs / Monitoring / Environmental stress / PAH

Corresponding author: Michel.Auffret@univ-brest.fr

© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD 2004

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