Experience Gained from Ecotoxicological Studies in the Seine River and Its Drainage Basin Over the Last Decade: Applicative Examples and Research Perspectives

Abstract

The Seine River and its drainage basin are recognised as one of the most urbanised water systems in France. This chapter gathers typical applications of complementary ecotoxicological tools that were used in PIREN-Seine programmes for a decade to reflect the Seine River contamination as well as its biological repercussions on organisms. Ecotoxicological studies focused on both (1) specific bioassays and (2) (sub)-individual biological responses (i.e. biomarkers) measured in diverse taxa (i.e. crustaceans, mussels and fishes) representative of the trophic network. Experience gained from these studies made it possible to establish reference and threshold values for numerous biological endpoints. They now can be combined with chemical measurements within integrated models (i.e. the Weight of Evidence [WOE] approach) generating a global index of waterbody pollution. These biological endpoints today appear sufficiently relevant and mature to be proposed to water stakeholders as efficient tools to support environmental management strategies.

Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Seine River Basin: Overview of Recent Research

“…bivalves), thereby potentially leading to erroneous interpretations in environmental monitoring studies. Thus, the influence of confounding factors such as the infection by protozoa represents a major issue as regards the use of biomarkers for environmental quality assessment (for further details regarding this issue, see [84]). Furthermore, the transfer of genetic element encoding resistance to antibiotics (1) from environmental microbial communities to strains that are pathogenic for humans or (2) from genes of clinical origin to environmental pathogenic bacteria that are opportunistic for humans (e.g.…”

Trajectories of the Seine River Basin

“…In addition to laboratory analyses (e.g. characterization of organic matter [83], analysis of contaminants [60,84], ecotoxicology [85], microbiology [40]), the field activities range from agricultural plot studies to interannual river exports assessed at the basin outlet. Various intermediate time and spatial scales are considered, depending on the scientific or societal question being addressed.…”

“…1), for which social experiments among river users have been undertaken [50,90], and the Orge River, a suburban river in the Paris region with a high population density, where many analyses of legacy and emerging contaminants have been carried out (IV in Fig. 1) [85]. The Paris station on the Middle Seine (order 7), just downstream of the Seine-Marne confluence, is located near the laboratory facilities and is used in particular to study the seasonal variability of river chemistry, with a handful of other key stations on upper stream orders, including the Seine reservoirs (5-7, Fig.…”