Relationships between Potentially Toxic Elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.

The bioaccumulation of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) by benthic invertebrates in estuarine sediments is poorly understood. We sampled and analysed PTEs in sediments and benthic invertebrates from five sites in the Skeena Estuary (British Columbia, Canada), including sites adjacent to an abandone...

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Main Authors: Tom Sizmur, Lily Campbell, Karina Dracott, Megan Jones, Nelson J O'Driscoll, Travis Gerwing
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2019-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216767
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spelling doaj-917df215b6eb463f984c1122df6529302021-03-03T21:07:39ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032019-01-01149e021676710.1371/journal.pone.0216767Relationships between Potentially Toxic Elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.Tom SizmurLily CampbellKarina DracottMegan JonesNelson J O'DriscollTravis GerwingThe bioaccumulation of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) by benthic invertebrates in estuarine sediments is poorly understood. We sampled and analysed PTEs in sediments and benthic invertebrates from five sites in the Skeena Estuary (British Columbia, Canada), including sites adjacent to an abandoned cannery and a decommissioned papermill. Our aim was to elucidate baseline levels of PTE concentrations at sites that may be recovering from disturbance associated with prior industrial development and identify organisms that could be used to biomonitor the impact of future industrial developments. There was no indication that sediments of the salmon cannery were polluted, but acidic sediments adjacent to the papermill contained elevated concentrations of Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb. Benthic invertebrate community assemblages confirm that sediments have mostly recovered from prior industrial development associated with discharge of papermill sludge. Overall, we did not observe any relationship between PTE concentrations in the sediment and PTE concentrations in invertebrate tissues. However, we did observe a negative relationship between sediment pH and the Biota-Sediment Accumulation Factor (BSAF) of most PTEs for Oregon pill bugs (Gnorimosphaeroma oregonensis). G. oregonensis, observed at all sites, feeds on the fibers associated with the papermill discharge. Thus, G. oregonensis is a useful biomonitors for quantifying the impact of the decommissioned papermill, and are candidate biomonitors for assessing the impact of similar industrial development projects on intertidal ecosystems.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216767
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Tom Sizmur
Lily Campbell
Karina Dracott
Megan Jones
Nelson J O'Driscoll
Travis Gerwing
spellingShingle Tom Sizmur
Lily Campbell
Karina Dracott
Megan Jones
Nelson J O'Driscoll
Travis Gerwing
Relationships between Potentially Toxic Elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Tom Sizmur
Lily Campbell
Karina Dracott
Megan Jones
Nelson J O'Driscoll
Travis Gerwing
author_sort Tom Sizmur
title Relationships between Potentially Toxic Elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.
title_short Relationships between Potentially Toxic Elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.
title_full Relationships between Potentially Toxic Elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.
title_fullStr Relationships between Potentially Toxic Elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.
title_full_unstemmed Relationships between Potentially Toxic Elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.
title_sort relationships between potentially toxic elements in intertidal sediments and their bioaccumulation by benthic invertebrates.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2019-01-01
description The bioaccumulation of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) by benthic invertebrates in estuarine sediments is poorly understood. We sampled and analysed PTEs in sediments and benthic invertebrates from five sites in the Skeena Estuary (British Columbia, Canada), including sites adjacent to an abandoned cannery and a decommissioned papermill. Our aim was to elucidate baseline levels of PTE concentrations at sites that may be recovering from disturbance associated with prior industrial development and identify organisms that could be used to biomonitor the impact of future industrial developments. There was no indication that sediments of the salmon cannery were polluted, but acidic sediments adjacent to the papermill contained elevated concentrations of Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb. Benthic invertebrate community assemblages confirm that sediments have mostly recovered from prior industrial development associated with discharge of papermill sludge. Overall, we did not observe any relationship between PTE concentrations in the sediment and PTE concentrations in invertebrate tissues. However, we did observe a negative relationship between sediment pH and the Biota-Sediment Accumulation Factor (BSAF) of most PTEs for Oregon pill bugs (Gnorimosphaeroma oregonensis). G. oregonensis, observed at all sites, feeds on the fibers associated with the papermill discharge. Thus, G. oregonensis is a useful biomonitors for quantifying the impact of the decommissioned papermill, and are candidate biomonitors for assessing the impact of similar industrial development projects on intertidal ecosystems.
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216767
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