Spatial Variation in Mercury Bioaccumulation and Magnification in a Temperate Estuarine Food Web

Fonseca, Vanessa F.; França, Susana; Duarte, Bernardo; Caçador, Isabel; Cabral, Henrique N.; Mieiro, C.L.; Coelho, J.P.; Pereira, Eduarda; Patrick, Ruth

doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00117

Cited by 28 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…As they are not degradable, they tend to accumulate in organisms throughout food webs and are especially critical for top predators [41]. A typical example is mercury bioaccumulation and biomagnification in marine food webs [42], given that mercury exposure has been shown to cause severe neurotoxic effects in marine fauna and humans [43,44]. Despite the reducing anthropogenic emissions observed in the last decades [45], mercury pollution is acknowledged as an issue worldwide due to its long-distance transport and persistence in the environment.…”

Section: Marine Pollutants In Coastal Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Marine Pollution: An Overlooked Interaction in Coastal and Estuarine Areas

Cabral

Fonseca

Sousa

et al. 2019

IJERPH

109

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Coastal areas have been increasingly affected by human activities, marine pollution and climate change are among the most important pressures affecting these environments. Human-induced pressures occur in a cumulative way and generate additive, antagonistic or synergistic effects. Knowledge on synergistic effects is crucial to coastal zone management, since they may imply a change in human uses of these systems, as well as dedicated action plans in order to reduce hazards and environmental risks. In this work, we provide an overview of the available literature on synergistic effects between climate change and chemical pollution, and discuss current knowledge, methodological approaches, and research gaps and needs. Interactions between these two pressures may be climate change dominant (climate change leads to an increase in contaminant exposure or toxicity) or contaminant-dominant (chemical exposure leads to an increase in climate change susceptibility), but the mechanistic drivers of such processes are not well known. Results from a few meta-analyses studies and reviews showed that synergistic interactions tend to be more frequent compared to additive and antagonistic ones. However, most of the studies are individual-based and assess the cumulative effects of a few contaminants individually in laboratory settings together with few climate variables, particularly temperature and pH. Nevertheless, a wide diversity of contaminants have already been individually tested, spanning from metals, persistent organic pollutants and, more recently, emergent pollutants. Population and community based approaches are less frequent but have generated very interesting and more holistic perspectives. Methodological approaches are quite diverse, from laboratory studies to mesocosm and field studies, or based on statistical or modelling tools, each with their own potential and limitations. More holistic comparisons integrating several pressures and their combinations and a multitude of habitats, taxa, life-stages, among others, are needed, as well as insights from meta-analyses and systematic reviews.

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Section: Marine Pollutants In Coastal Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Marine Pollution: An Overlooked Interaction in Coastal and Estuarine Areas

Cabral

Fonseca

Sousa

et al. 2019

IJERPH

109

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“…Only two points showed worrying results (high ecological risk) from high levels of Cd and Hg. An analysis of the biomagnification of Hg metalloid in the trophic chain of an estuary showed that concentrations increase with the trophic level (Fonseca et al, 2019). The presence of Hg in fish has already been recorded in rivers that flow near the studied beaches (Viana et al, 2020).…”

Section: Indexesmentioning

confidence: 85%

Baseline Study of Trace Element Concentrations in Sediments of the Intertidal Zone of Amazonian Oceanic Beaches

et al. 2021

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Analyzing the presence and quantifying trace elements is of paramount importance to understand natural environmental processes and monitor the degree of anthropogenic disturbance to mitigate impacts already caused. Here, we aimed to establish a baseline of the trace elements profile and concentrations in sandy sediments of intertidal areas of three Amazonian beaches (Brazil). For each beach, sediments were collected from three different sectors (south, center, and north) and five shoreline distance levels (from the high- to the low-water mark), totalizing 15 samples per beach. The concentration of the different trace elements (Mg, Al, P, S, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Br, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Cd, Sn, I, Hg, and Pb) was determined by Total reflection X-ray Fluorescence spectrometry. Sediment was also characterized for its grain size, organic matter, and pH. To assess possible enrichment due to anthropogenic activities we compared trace element levels with the values for the Earth’s crust and calculated pollution indexes: geoaccumulation index (Igeo), ecological risk index (RI), contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), and sediment quality guideline (SQG), threshold effects level (TEL) and probable effects level (PEL). Individual trace metal concentrations did not vary significantly between beaches, sectors, or sample levels, evidencing a homogeneity of trace elements composition and concentrations across this environment. Igeo indicated 62.2% of the sampling stations uncontaminated, 20.0% from uncontaminated to moderately contaminated, and 4.44% (two sampling stations) strongly contaminated, the same two areas classified as high ecological risk by RI. Most of the sampling points presented low CF. Cadmium and Hg were the only elements that showed moderate to very high values of CF. According to the SQGs, 77.7 and 8.8% of the sampling points presented values above the moderate threshold effect level (SQG-TEL) and probable effect level (SQG-PEL), respectively. All points were classified as non-polluted according to the PLI. Our results show that the three beaches present safe levels of almost of the elements demonstrating the good state of preservation. Most of the indexes classified the sampling points as non-polluted, except for Cd and Hg in a few specific sampling points.

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“…Animal tissues elemental composition is intrinsically linked to the chemical composition of their environment, but it is also modulated by the animal physiology and food sources intake [24][25][26]. To our knowledge, the elemental signature of barnacles' edible peduncle has not been used for geographical traceability purposes, with only one study focusing on P. pollicipes calcified capitula structures for this purpose [10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Variable selection is highly dependent on the sample matrix properties as well as on the dataset overall characteristics [28]. Particularly, in the case of seafood samples, this is highly dependent on the animals feeding, moving and ecological traits, as well as the variability of the marine habitats, that overall affect the animal element uptake [24][25][26] and thus the selected variables. This points to a case-specific selection of variables and not to a transversal elemental selection, independently of the samples.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elemental Chemometrics as Tools to Depict Stalked Barnacle (Pollicipes pollicipes) Harvest Locations and Food Safety

et al. 2022

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The stalked barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes is an abundant species on the very exposed rocky shore habitats of the Spanish and Portuguese coasts, constituting also an important economical resource, as a seafood item with high commercial value. Twenty-four elements were measured by untargeted total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF) in the edible peduncle of stalked barnacles sampled in six sites along the Portuguese western coast, comprising a total of 90 individuals. The elemental profile of 90 individuals originated from several geographical sites (N = 15 per site), were analysed using several chemometric multivariate approaches (variable in importance partial least square discriminant analysis (VIP-PLS-DA), stepwise linear discriminant analysis (S-LDA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), random forests (RF) and canonical analysis of principal components (CAP)), to evaluate the ability of each approach to trace the geographical origin of the animals collected. As a suspension feeder, this species introduces a high degree of background noise, leading to a comparatively lower classification of the chemometric approaches based on the complete elemental profile of the peduncle (canonical analysis of principal components and linear discriminant analysis). The application of variable selection approaches such as the VIP-PLS-DA and S-LDA significantly increased the classification accuracy (77.8% and 84.4%, respectively) of the samples according to their harvesting area, while reducing the number of elements needed for this classification, and thus the background noise. Moreover, the selected elements are similar to those selected by other random and non-random approaches, reinforcing the reliability of this selection. This untargeted analytical procedure also allowed to depict the degree of risk, in terms of human consumption of these animals, highlighting the geographical areas where these delicacies presented lower values for critical elements compared to the standard thresholds for human consumption.

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Spatial Variation in Mercury Bioaccumulation and Magnification in a Temperate Estuarine Food Web

Cited by 28 publications

References 61 publications

Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Marine Pollution: An Overlooked Interaction in Coastal and Estuarine Areas

Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Marine Pollution: An Overlooked Interaction in Coastal and Estuarine Areas

Baseline Study of Trace Element Concentrations in Sediments of the Intertidal Zone of Amazonian Oceanic Beaches

Elemental Chemometrics as Tools to Depict Stalked Barnacle (Pollicipes pollicipes) Harvest Locations and Food Safety

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