Trace metal bioaccumulation in soft‐bottom macrobenthos from the San Pedro Shelf, California

Abstract

The relationship between sediment trace metals (Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni. Pb, Zn) and bioaccumulation in tissue of macrobenthos (Parvilucina tenuisculpta, Tellina spp., Macoma spp., Pectinaria californiensis, Nephtys spp., Glyrem spp., Metasychis sp.. Euphilomedes spp., and Ampelisca spp.) was described from 1975 to 1985 on the San Pedro Shelf, California. Results indicated that: 1) sediment trace metals were elevated at an ocean outfall station; 2) tissue trace metals were never statistically higher at the outfall compared to a reference station except for Zn in Mucoma spp. ; 3 ) there were a few statistically significant associations (r) between tissue and sediment metals, but no consistent trends emerged; 4) peak tissue metal concentrations occurred more frequently in the winter than in the summer. D. MAURER er al.bioaccumulation studies more costly and less attractive. Regardless, a study of a wide range of taxa is useful because different species are better indicators for some metals than for others (BRYAN et al., STEIMLE et al., 1994;HALL and FRID, 1995;PALMER and PRESLEY, 1996;Wu and LAU, 1996).The County Sanitation Districts of Orange County, California (Districts) have performed bioaccumulation studies from 1974 to the present. With the advent of a new 301 (h) monitoring program in 1985 the Districts was obliged to shift its emphasis in bioaccumulation studies from small, infaunal macrobenthos to large (sea stars, sea cucumbers, crabs) epibenthic invertebrates (Districts, 1994). The purpose of this account was to collate and synthesize the pre-1985 data and examine the relationship between sediment trace metals and bioaccumulation of soft-bottom macrobenthos. Presentation of the post 1985 301 (h) bioaccumulation studies is better suited for a separate account.

Metal sources to the Baltic clam Macoma balthica (Mollusca: Bivalvia) in the southern Baltic Sea (the Gulf of Gdansk)

“…Although the overall mechanisms for uptake of elements by various benthic molluscs with respect to environmental conditions have been established in several regions (Rainbow, 1996;Maurer et al, 1997), spatial heterogeneity with regard to hydro-geochemical conditions and ecological factors precluded generalisation of metal uptake and accumulation mechanisms. Patterns of metal uptake routes and subsequent accumulation can vary interspecifically for the same metal and intraspecifically for different metals (Rainbow et al, 1990).…”