Advancing environmental monitoring across the water continuum combining biomarker analysis in multiple sentinel species: A case study in the Seine-Normandie Basin (France)

Sylvain Slaby (1) , Alain Geffard (1) , Cédric Fisson (2) , Matthieu Bonnevalle-Normand (1) , Anne-Sophie Allonier-Fernandes (3) , Rachid Amara (4, 5) , Anne Bado-Nilles (1, 6) , Isabelle Bonnard (1) , Marc Bonnard (1) , Mayélé Burlion-Giorgi (1) , Amélie Cant (1, 6) , Audrey Catteau (1) , Arnaud Chaumot (7) , Katherine Costil (8) , Romain Coulaud (1) , Laurence Delahaut (1) , Mamadou Diop (4, 5) , Aurélie Duflot (1) , Olivier Geffard (7) , Emmanuel Jestin (3) , Frank Le Foll (1) , Antoine Le Guernic (9, 10, 1) , Christelle Lopes (11) , Mélissa Palos-Ladeiro (1) , Quentin Peignot (1) , Agnès Poret (1) , Antoine Serpentini (8) , Gauthier Tremolet (1) , Cyril Turiès (1, 6) , Benoît Xuereb (1)

1 SEBIO - Stress Environnementaux et BIOsurveillance des milieux aquatiques
2 GIP-Seine-Aval - Groupement d’Intérêt Public Seine-Aval
3 Agence de l'Eau Seine-Normandie
4 LOG - Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187
5 ULCO - Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale
6 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
7 RiverLy - RiverLy - Fonctionnement des hydrosystèmes
8 BOREA - Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques
9 BIOSSE - BIOlogie des populations, Stress, Santé, Environnement
10 BiOSSE - Biologie des Organismes, Stress, Santé, Environnement [Le Mans Université]
11 LBBE - Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive - UMR 5558

Nowadays, biomarkers are recognized as valuable tools to complement chemical and ecological assessments in biomonitoring programs. They provide insights into the effects of contaminant exposures on individuals and establish connections between environmental pressure and biological response at higher levels. In the last decade, strong improvements in the design of experimental protocols and the result interpretation facilitated the use of biomarker across wide geographical areas, including aquatic continua. Notably, the statistical establishment of reference values and thresholds enabled the discrimination of contamination effects in environmental conditions, allowed interspecies comparisons, and eliminated the need of a reference site. The aim of this work was to study freshwater-estuarine-coastal water continua by applying biomarker measurements in multi-species caged organisms. During two campaigns, eight sentinel species, encompassing fish, mollusks, and crustaceans, were deployed to cover 25 sites from rivers to the sea. As much as possible, a common methodology was employed for biomarker measurements (DNA damage and phagocytosis efficiency) and data interpretation based on guidelines established using reference values and induction/inhibition thresholds (establishment of three effect levels). The methodology was successfully implemented and allowed us to assess the environmental quality. Employing multiple species per site enhances confidence in observed trends. The results highlight the feasibility of integrating biomarker-based environmental monitoring programs across a continuum scale. Biomarker results align with Water Framework Directive indicators in cases of poor site quality. Additionally, when discrepancies arise between chemical and ecological statuses, biomarker findings offer a comprehensive perspective to elucidate the disparities. Presented as a pilot project, this work contributes to gain insights into current biomonitoring needs, providing new questions and perspectives.

Mots clés: Biomonitoring; Water quality; Caging; WFD; Immunotoxicity; Genotoxicity

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Sylvain Slaby, Alain Geffard, Cédric Fisson, Matthieu Bonnevalle-Normand, Anne-Sophie Allonier-Fernandes, et al.. Advancing environmental monitoring across the water continuum combining biomarker analysis in multiple sentinel species: A case study in the Seine-Normandie Basin (France). Journal of Environmental Management, 2024, 358, pp.120784. ⟨10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120784⟩. ⟨hal-04542022⟩