Assessment of the Ecotoxicity of Marine Sediments from the Eastern Kamchatka Using Bioassays

Because of the active influx of chemical compounds into the marine environment, a significant portion is transformed and accumulates in bottom sediments (BS), posing a threat to benthic organisms. The eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, with its characteristic volcanic, seismic, and gas–chemical features, is of particular interest to our research. This study is the first to assess the cyto- and genotoxicity of BS in coastal waters off the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula using biotesting on representatives of the benthic community (the mussel Mytilus trossulus and the sand dollar Scaphehinus mirabilis). Of the aqueous extracts exposure of BS from all stations, M. trossulus showed destabilization of lysosomal membranes in gills and digestive gland cells. It was shown that aqueous extracts from BS of Kamchatka Bay (station 1) and Avachinskaya Bay (station 3) had no negative effect on DNA molecules in the gills and digestive gland cells of mussels, and the values obtained corresponded to the control. Extracts from BS of Kronotsky Bay (station 2) and Avacha Bay (station 4) damaged the integrity of the genome in the cells of the gills M. trossulus and sperm of S. mirabilis. The level of DNA damage in sperm increased by 3 and 3.5 times, respectively, compared with that in control gametes. The results of the biotests on two biological models show that sediments from Kronotsky Bay and Avacha Bay exhibit cytotoxicity and induce DNA damage in both somatic cells and gametes.