Contaminated interstitial sediment is a reservoir of trace elements with exposure potential for freshwater mussels

Autor: Anthony J. Timpano, Zachary Taylor, Jess W. Jones
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Environmental Advances, Vol 12, Iss , Pp 100357- (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2666-7657
DOI: 10.1016/j.envadv.2023.100357
Popis: The Powell River in Tennessee and Virginia, U.S.A. is a biodiversity hotspot for freshwater mussels, a highly imperiled faunal group in North America. Populations have been declining for several decades. Identification of the cause(s) of mussel decline is critical toward improving water quality and restoring populations in the river. We hypothesized that mussel populations may be suppressed because of exposure to toxic levels of trace elements in sediment pore water, a consequence of coal mining in the watershed. We measured concentrations of trace elements in water-column (surface) and substrate interstitial (pore) water seven times over one year at nine locations spanning 157 river kilometers. Concentrations of trace elements in filtered (0.45 μm) surface and pore water were low relative to water-quality criteria. In contrast, trace elements were higher in pore water containing interstitial fine sediment particles (< 300 μm), with all toxic elements except arsenic having potential to exceed their chronic criteria if they were in dissolved form. For example, lead and copper in some samples would be equivalent to a dissolved-ion exposure of 110- and 45-times their chronic criteria, respectively. Trace elements exhibited spatial variation but no significant (p
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals