Pollution in Coastal Areas: An Integrated Perspective in Environmental Risk Studies

Abstract

Transitional water systems such as estuaries and subestuaries are areas of greatconcern in ecotoxicology due to urban and industrial settlement, being key areas ofproductivity and biogeochemical exchange between ocean and land. The ecotoxicologicalrisk of trace metals and organic pollutants in the environment depends on whether theycan be accumulated by organisms and this, in turn, depends on the uptake from food andwater, as well as the efflux. Chemicals are often sequestered in estuarine sediments andthus likely to be accumulated, affecting the benthic communities directly. The surfaceoxic sediments include the biofilm, and its associated biota which are ideal models tounderstand the ecological risk in aquatic environments. South American estuaries alongthe Atlantic coast show different levels of human impact. We reviewed the status ofenvironmental pollution and ecotoxicology of these estuaries and highlighted thepotential sources of novel pollutants.