MONITORING BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF CONTAMINATION IN MARINE FISH ALONG FRENCH COASTS BY MEASUREMENT OF ETHOXYRESORUFIN-O-DEETHYLASE ACTIVITY

The use of bioindicators to evaluate exposure to the biological effect s of chemical pollutants in marine organisms constitutes a new tool in the monitoring field. The establishment of a North Sea monitoring net work in 1991, involving such international organizations as the North Sea Task Force, the International Council for the Exploration of the S ea, and the Intergovernmental Oceanography Commission, led French rese archers to develop an enzymatic biomarker to monitor biological effect s within the National Observation Network. The biomarker, ethoxyresoru fin-O- deethylase (EROD), dependent on the CP450 system, has been moni tored biannually since 1992 in several species of fish (Callionymus ly ra, Limanda limanda, Serranus sp., Mullus barbatus) in two coastal sit es particularly exposed to industrial and domestic pollution. A rapid method is used to assay EROD enzymatic activity determined along a pol lution gradient, and results are interpreted on a microplate reader. T he strategy of this approach is to assess the effects on the marine ec osystem during prolonged exposure to specific pollutants such as polya romatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxins. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.