Philippine Journal of Science
151 (3): 969-974, June 2022
ISSN 0031 – 7683
Date Received: 06 Dec 2021

Ecotoxicological Assessment of Water and Sediment
in Areas of Taal Lake with Heavy Aquaculture Practices
Using Allium cepa and Daphnia magna Assay

Vincent Pamugas Reyes^1,2*, Michelle A. Ventura^1,3, and Procula B. Amarillo¹

¹Department of Biology, College of Science, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila,
General Luna corner Muralla St, Intramuros, Manila, 1002 Metro Manila, Philippines
²Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University,
Chikusa-ku, Furo-cho, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601 Japan
³Basic Education Department, Air Link International Aviation College,
Domestic Airport Domestic Road 1301 Pasay City, Philippines

*Corresponding author: reyesvp@nagoya-u.jp

 

[Download]
Reyes VP et al. 2022. Ecotoxicological Assessment of Water and Sediment in Areas of Taal Lake with Heavy Aquaculture
Practices Using Allium cepa and Daphnia magna Assay. Philipp J Sci 151(3): 969–974. https://doi.org/10.56899/151.03.15

 

ABSTRACT

Aquaculture is one of the main livelihoods of people living near Taal Lake. However, the quality of the lake is deteriorating due to the increasing number of fish cages and fish pens. In this study, ecotoxicological assessment of water and sediment in three areas (Gonzales, Bañaga, and Balakilong) of Taal Lake were conducted using Allium cepa and Daphnia magna assay. The result of A. cepa assay showed that areas with heavy aquaculture practices have a higher percentage of chromosomal aberrations (CAs) such as anaphase bridge, precocious chromosome, sticky chromosome, C-mitosis, and micronucleus (MN). This indicates the presence of cytotoxic and genotoxic compounds in the lake water. On the other hand, assessment of sediment samples using D. magna assay showed that the population exposed to samples from areas with heavy aquaculture practice showed a significantly lower number of offsprings compared to the control area. The result of our study shows the effectiveness of the two bioassays on the evaluation of ecotoxicity of water and sediment samples.