Search results for "Biomagnification"

Environmental and biological factors are joint drivers of mercury biomagnification in subarctic lake food webs along a climate and productivity gradi…

2021

Subarctic lakes are getting warmer and more productive due to the joint effects of climate change and intensive land-use practices (e.g. forest clear-cutting and peatland ditching), processes that potentially increase leaching of peat- and soil-stored mercury into lake ecosystems. We sampled biotic communities from primary producers (algae) to top consumers (piscivorous fish), in 19 subarctic lakes situated on a latitudinal (69.0-66.5 degrees N), climatic (+3.2 degrees C temperature and +30% precipitation from north to south) and catchment land-use (pristine to intensive forestry areas) gradient. We first tested how the joint effects of climate and productivity influence mercury biomagnific…

Diet and habitat use influence Hg and Cd transfer to fish and consequent biomagnification in a highly contaminated area: Augusta Bay (Mediterranean S…

2016

Abstract Total mercury (T-Hg) and cadmium (Cd) were measured in twenty species of fish to study their bioaccumulation patterns and trophodynamics in the Augusta Bay food web. Adult and juvenile fish were caught in 2012 in Priolo Bay, south of the Augusta harbour (Central Mediterranean Sea), which is known for the high trace element and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination level. T-Hg concentration was found to significantly increase along δ15N and from pelagic to benthic sedentary fish, revealing a marked influence of trophic position and habitat use (sensu Harmelin 1987) on T-Hg accumulation within ichthyofauna. Cd showed the opposite pattern, in line with the higher trace element…

Assessing the influence of confounding biological factors when estimating bioaccumulation of PCBs with passive samplers in aquatic ecosystems

2017

Passive samplers are promising surrogates for organisms, mimicking bioaccumulation. However, several biological characteristics disturb the passive partitioning process in organisms by accelerating or restraining bioaccumulation, resulting in species-specific body residues of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). In addition to site-specific characteristics and HOC concentrations, age, sex, diet, biotransformation capability and habitat-specific characteristics may affect body residues. Two passive sampler types, polyethylene (PE) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were deployed in a PCB-contaminated freshwater lake water and sediment, respectively, to assess their bioaccumulation predictio…

Biomagnification of organohalogens in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from its main prey species in three areas of the Baltic Sea

2012

Abstract Factors affecting the biomagnification of organohalogens in Baltic salmon from sprat, herring and three-spined stickleback were assessed in three feeding areas. Second sea-year salmon contained (in fresh weight of whole fish) 79–250 ng g− 1 polychlorinated biphenyls (ΣPCB), 0.9–2.7 pg g− 1 dibenzo-p-dioxins (ΣPCDD), 8–19 pg g− 1 dibenzofurans (ΣPCDF), 96–246 pg g− 1 coplanar PCBs, 2.4–3.6 ng g− 1 polybrominated diphenylethers (ΣPBDE), and 39–136 ng g− 1 Σindicator PCB6. The EU limits for WHO toxic equivalent concentrations in fish feed were already exceeded in one-year-old sprat and herring and were exceeded many-fold in older age groups. The differences in the biomagnification rat…

Perfluorinated Compounds’ Analysis, Environmental Fate and Occurrence: The Llobregat River as Case Study

2012

Perfluorinated compounds are industrial chemicals widely used for more than 60 years. However, during the last decade, due to their high resistance to degradation, bioaccumulation attached to proteins, biomagnification to the food chain and their relation to toxicological effects of these compounds have gained scientific and regulatory attention.

Contamination by trace metals and their trophic transfer to the biota in a Mediterranean coastal system affected by gull guano

2013

Transitional environments are vulnerable interface systems, ecologically connected with adjacent systems by several biotic or abiotic flows. The coastal system of the Marinello ponds (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) is affected by a colony of yellow-legged gulls Larus michahellis (Naumann, 1840), resident on the cliff beside the ponds. To investigate the role of the gull colony as a potential source of allochthonous non-essential trace metals (As, Cd, Pb and total mercury, THg) and the consequent metal trophic transfer to the biota in the ponds, we collected guano, surface sediment and biota from 3 ponds with different levels of avian input. The highest concentrations were observed in guano and surf…

STUDIO DELLA BIODISTRIBUZIONE DI SOSTANZE BIOLOGICAMENTE ATTIVE IN ORGANISMI ACQUATICI

2022

New types of environmental POPs

1998

Recent knowledge on sources, biomagnification and ecotoxic potential of earlier less studied persistent organic pollutants (POP) is briefly reviewed. Chlorohydrocarbons discussed are techno‐chemicals polychloronaphthalenes (PCN), polychloroterphenyls (PCT), octachlorostyrene (OCS) and hexachlorobutadiene, pulp bleachery wastes chlorocymenes (CYMS), chlorocymenenes (CYMD), alkylpolychlorophenanthrenes (RPCPH), alkylprolychlorobibenzyls (RPCBB) and alkylpolychloronaphthalenes (RPCN), and fish contaminants polychlorofluorenes (PCFL) and fluorenones (PCFLO), alkyl polychlorofluorenes (RPCFL), polychlorodihydroanthracenes (PCDHA) and polychloroanthracenes (PCAN). Aromatic chloroethers discussed …

Pollution assessment of heavy metals in soils of India and ecological risk assessment: A state-of-the-art

2019

Soil is substantive component of biosphere, which is exposed to plethora of pollutants including heavy metals. These are added by natural as well as anthropogenic activities. Upsurge in heavy metal content affects all organisms by biomagnification. So, it becomes vital to create a database of heavy metals concentration in soil. This is relevant in countries where unsustainable intensive agriculture, industrial and urban development is in progress. The present review of the scientific literature from 1991 to 2018 on heavy metals in soils in India shows that Zn and Pb exceeded their limits for Indian natural soil guidelines (Zn 22.1 and Pb 13.1 μg/g), Canada (Zn 200 μg/g), Swedish (80 μg/g) a…

Blackfly Larvae (Simulium spp.) Can Intensify Methylmercury Biomagnification in Boreal Food Webs

2020

AbstractGlobal pollution of mercury (Hg) threatens ecosystem and human health. We measured total Hg (THg) and monomethylmercury (MMHg) concentrations in filter-feeding blackfly (Simulium spp.) larvae in the inflows and the outflows of six boreal lakes with no Hg point source pollution. THg in the larvae ranged from 0.03 to 0.31 mg kg−1 dw and MMHg between 0.02 and 0.25 mg kg−1 dw. The proportion of MMHg in the larvae was 74 ± 0.16% and ranged from 43 to 98% of THg, the highest proportions being comparable to those typically found in aquatic predatory insects and fish. We compared the larvae MMHg concentrations to river water quality, catchment land-use, and to size-adjusted lake pike THg da…