Testing the Use of Standardized Laboratory Tests to Infer Hg Bioaccumulation in Indigenous Benthic Organisms of Lake Maggiore (NW Italy)

The chronic toxicity of mercury essentially derives from its strong tendency to biomagnify along food webs. For this reason, the European regulatory framework establishes an environmental quality standard for Hg based on the total Hg concentration in prey fish to protect top predators. A considerabl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied sciences 2020-03, Vol.10 (6), p.1970
Main Authors: Vignati, Davide A.L., Bettinetti, Roberta, Boggero, Angela, Valsecchi, Sara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accumulation
Aquatic environment
Bioaccumulation
Chemical Sciences
chironomids
Chironomus riparius
Chronic toxicity
Contaminated sediments
Ecotoxicology
Environmental quality
Environmental regulations
Environmental Sciences
Food chains
Food contamination & poisoning
Food webs
Global Changes
Ingestion
Invertebrates
Laboratories
Laboratory tests
Lakes
Life Sciences
Lumbriculus variegatus
Mercury
Oligochaeta
oligochaetes
Organisms
Other
Predators
Prey
Quality standards
Sediment pollution
Sediments
Taxonomy
Toxicology
Trace elements
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The chronic toxicity of mercury essentially derives from its strong tendency to biomagnify along food webs. For this reason, the European regulatory framework establishes an environmental quality standard for Hg based on the total Hg concentration in prey fish to protect top predators. A considerable part of the Hg burden of prey fish can come from the ingestion of benthic organisms that, in the presence of contaminated sediments, may remobilize substantial amounts of Hg towards the pelagic food webs. The present study evaluated whether Hg accumulation in assemblages of indigenous chironomids and oligochaetes could be predicted using standardized laboratory bioaccumulation tests with Chironomus riparius and Lumbriculus variegatus. Indigenous chironomids and oligochaetes were recovered at different sites in a lake suffering from legacy Hg pollution and analyzed for total Hg content. Sediment aliquots from the same sites were used to assess Hg bioaccumulation using laboratory-reared C. riparius and L. variegatus. Mercury concentrations in indigenous versus laboratory organisms showed a good correlation (p < 0.05; Spearman correlation test) only in the case of C. riparius versus indigenous chironomids, suggesting the possibility of using linear regressions to predict Hg accumulation by these benthic invertebrates. Further research needs and caveats as to the applicability of the present results to other aquatic systems are identified and discussed.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app10061970