CASE STUDY:

AQUATIC BIO & CHEMICAL MONITORING

IN AMARILLO STREAM IN URUGUAY
R. Hladkia , M. Dorregoa , R. Genoleta, F. Jesúsa , V. Cesiob , H. Heinzenb and S. Niella
a Cenur Litoral Norte Sede Paysandú, Universidad de la República, Uruguay.
b Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Uruguay.

INTRODUCTION ricardoladki@gmail.com

When evaluating pesticide residues in surface waters as a compartment in environmental studies, it is usual to find several
non-detects. However, this fact is not conclusive about the presence of pesticides in the environment.
On the other hand, when the composition of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities is studied in streams, the effects caused
by diverse contaminants that reach surface waters can be integrated in a time period, but little is known about the chemicals
or the distortion that caused a particular community composition. Combining ecotoxicological observations with chemical
analysis of the biota and the water where this biota lives could bring some light on the overall phenomenon.
EXPERIMENTAL 4 sites with different land use and their Classification and
corresponding reference sites were composition of aquatic
In the Queguay river basin in Uruguay
macroinvertebrate
selected, visited and sampled 6 times
communities –
Manguera during one year from February 2019- diversity
Santana de Piedras 2020.

Pesticides Residue analysis were • Wealth

performed in samples of water • Diversity–Margalef
Capilla Vieja Amarillo and macroinvertebrates • Ratio tolerant / intolerant
(odonates) EPT / EPTCH
RESULTS
Manguera
a) Ecotoxicological de Piedra
b)Contaminants
(x1,000)
1.0 235.00>165.00
235.00>199.00
(x1,000)
283.80>213.80
1.75 283.80>248.80
283.80>176.90
Amarillo stream
235.00>149.00

Santana
0.9

Amarillo
1.50
0.8

p,p-DDTc 1.25

Hexachloro
Capilla Vieja
0.7

0.6
1.00

benzene
Reference: 0.5

0.4

0.3
0.75

0.50

Taxa 31 The reference site 0.2

0.1
0.25

Margalef 3.29
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6
18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6

had lower
EPT/Ch+EPT 0.62 (x1,000)
(x100)
8.0 372.80>263.90

ecotogicological
271.80>236.80 372.80>265.90
273.80>238.80 372.80>336.80

7.0
1.50

Study site: indexes than the

1.25

1.00
6.0

5.0

4.0

Taxa 35 study sites

0.75

0.50
3.0

2.0

Margalef 3.83 0.25

1.0

15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3

EPT/Ch+EPT 0.91
22.8 22.9 23.0 23.1 23.2

Mirex Chlordane

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

✓ It was expected that the reference site presented a more diverse macroinvertebrates community than the sites
being characterized. Unusually, the reference site in Amarillo stream showed lower ecotoxicological indexes
than the impacted site under study.
✓ Old banned organochlorines were detected in the aquatic compartment, mainly in macroinvertebrates
✓ Further research confirmed that in this site sugar beet cropping have been performed decades ago, when these
pesticides used to be applied.
✓ Surface runoff eased the pesticides to reach the stream, contaminating it and negatively impacting the aquatic
environment
✓ Water analysis alone give us only a photograph of what is running in the stream, whereas this type of
interdisciplinary approach gives a broader vision of the situation of the environment
✓ The strategy to combine biological indexes and chemical determinations showed its utility to understand
pesticide dynamics and effects in the environment
REFERENCES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Jesús, F., Hladki, R., Gérez, N., Besil, N., Niell, S., Fernández, G.,
Heinzen, H., Cesio, M.V., 2018. Miniaturized QuEChERS based
methodology for multiresidue determination of pesticides in odonate
nymphs as ecosystem biomonitors. Talanta 178, 410-418.