| dc.description.abstract | The effluent from the IVAR SNJ wastewater treatment plant is discharged into the marine recipient Håsteinsfjord in the North Sea, 1.6 kilometers from the coast of the Stavanger peninsula. The treated discharged wastewater can still contain a small amount of certain pollutants known as emerging contaminants (ECs), that can have negative effects on the living organisms. A biomonitoring study was performed using three different species: the common periwinkle (Littorina littorea), the Norway king crab (Lithodes maja), and the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), as bioindicators for evaluation of the biological effects in these organisms living near the effluent discharge point. Biomarkers used in this research study included condition index (CI) for all three species, lysosomal membrane stability (LMS), acetylcholinesterase assay (AChE), and micronucleus assay (MN) for periwinkles. Morphological measurements from all three species were also taken. Snail specimens were collected in September 2019 from three coastal locations, two near the discharge point: Sandestranda and Randabergbukta, and one reference location: Solastranda. Lobster and crab specimens are collected in October 2019 from two marine locations, one in the immediate vicinity of the discharge point: Håsteinsfjord, and one reference location: Boknafjord.
The total data obtained from the biomarkers selected for this study showed that there was no significant difference between organisms from the reference locations and organisms from locations near the wastewater discharge point. The only significant lower value was observed with LMS in L. littorea species, sampled from the site near the effluent point, Sandestranda, indicating that organisms from this location are subjected to a general environmental stress, that can be a consequence of wastewater discharge from IVAR SNJ WWTP, or a result of other sources of contaminations or stress. CI values for all three species were not significantly different, indicating that there was not any significant negative effect on the conditions needed for growth and reproduction in all three species. AChE activity in tissues of sampled snails did not exhibit any significant difference between sampling locations, indicating that there are no neurotoxic pollutants capable to induce inhibiting of AChE in L. littorea, or their concentration is too low. Two different procedures have been used for MN assay, but due to the technical failures sufficiently reliable results could not be obtained so they are not included in this study. | en_US |
