Toxicological Evaluation of the Sediments of the Juan Angola Channel (Cartagena) Using C. Elegans as Biological Model

Abstract

Recently, the pollution in bodies of water near urban settlements has drawn the attention of government agencies. The city of Cartagena, being a coastal city, has multiple bodies of water that make up its ecosystems, both maritime and freshwater. One of these bodies of water is the Juan Angola channel, the focus of our research, which fulfills its function of flowing nutrients to the Ciénaga de la Virgen. However, due to the accumulation of pollutants and the neglect of the environmental authorities, the “Juan Angola” channel has become a dumping ground for pollution and a garbage dump for its surrounding neighborhoods, significantly affecting the living beings that reside in it, including the mangrove swamp. The “Juan Angola” channel is a water corridor that runs from the Ciénaga de la Virgen to the Cabrero Lagoon, Cartagena - Colombia. This work aimed to evaluate the toxicological effects using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in extracts of sediments of the channel. This work had quantitative experimental methodology by using the samples taken in the field trips, which were conditioned and analyzed by using the nematode nematodes through endpoints such as Lethality. The results showed a high case fatality rate of nematodes after exposing them to the extract of sediments.