Caratterizzazione ecotossicologica del Golfo di Taranto: crescita in laboratorio di idroidi coloniali e microalghe.

Integration of chemico-physical monitoring with laboratory bioassays may follow: 1) a rapid assessment of the biological water quality, and 2) to identify and/or to exclude causal relationships with specific classes of pollutants. Water samples from some polluted areas in the Gulf of Taranto significantly affected laboratory growth rates of cultured hydroids and microalgae, with reference to pollution typology of sampled areas. Growth responses ranged from stimulation (hormesis) to deep inhibition. Concentration of some metals and nutrients in water samples were demonsrated to be biologically uneffective on growth of tested organisms by means of laboratory addictions to reference seawater. An indexed semi-quantitative scale of water quality was nevertheless determined, using bioassay organisms with different sensitivities to toxicants. Identification of unknown stressors will be further prosecuted by means of wider analytical investigation on organic pollutants (PAH, PCB, phenols) mainly affecting Taranto coastal areas.