Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T15:54:40.042Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trace metal bioavailabilities in the Thames estuary: continuing decline in the 21st century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2015

Keera M. Johnstone ,
Philip S. Rainbow ,
Paul F. Clark ,
Brian D. Smith  and
David Morritt
Keera M. Johnstone
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
Philip S. Rainbow*
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
Paul F. Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
Brian D. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
David Morritt
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to:P.S. Rainbow, Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK email: philipstephenrainbow@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Levels of pollution, including contamination by toxic metals, in the Thames estuary reduced over the last four decades of the 20th century. This 2014 study investigates whether the declines in the bioavailabilities of trace metals (Ag, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, Zn) have continued in the 21st century, using a suite of littoral biomonitors also employed in 2001 – the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus, the strandline, talitrid amphipod Orchestia gammarellus and the estuarine barnacle Amphibalanus improvisus. Bioaccumulated concentrations represent relative measures of the total bioavailabilities of each metal to the biomonitor over a previous time period, and can be compared over space and over time. Trace metal bioavailabilities varied along the estuary, and, in general, fell between 2001 and 2014, a reflection of the continuing remediation of the Thames estuary from its severely polluted state in the middle of the 20th century.

Keywords

trace metalsbiomonitoringbioavailabilityThames estuaryFucus vesiculosusOrchestia gammarellusAmphibalanus improvisus
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 96 , Issue 1: Oceans and Human Health , February 2016 , pp. 205 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, D.T. (1994) Barnacles: structure, function, development and evolution. London: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Andrews, M.J. (1984) Thames estuary: pollution and recovery. In Sheehan, P.J., Miller, D.R., Butler, G.C. and Bourdeau, P. (eds) Effects of pollutants at the ecosystem level. SCOPE 22. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Anon (1998) Appendix A. Summary of data for selected sites along the Thames Estuary. In Attrill, M.J. (ed.) A rehabilitated estuarine ecosystem. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Attrill, M.J. and Thomas, R.M. (1995) Heavy metal concentrations in sediment from the Thames estuary, UK. Marine Pollution Bulletin 30, 742–744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryan, G.W. and Gibbs, P.E. (1983) Heavy metals in the Fal estuary, Cornwall: a study of long-term contamination by mining waste and its effects on estuarine organisms. Occasional Publications of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2, 1–112.Google Scholar
Bryan, G.W., Langston, W.J. and Hummerstone, L.G. (1980) The use of biological indicators of heavy metal contamination in estuaries. Occasional Publications of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1, 1–73.Google Scholar
Bryan, G.W., Langston, W.J., Hummerstone, L.G. and Burt, G.R. (1985) A guide to the assessment of heavy-metal contamination in estuaries. Occasional Publications of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 4, 1–92.Google Scholar
Campbell, P.G.C. (1995) Interaction between trace metals and aquatic organisms: a critique of the free-ion activity model. In Tessier, A. and Turner, D.R. (eds) Metal speciation and aquatic systems. New York, NY: Wiley, pp. 45–102.Google Scholar
Casado-Martinez, M.C., Smith, B.D., Del Valls, T.A., Luoma, S.N. and Rainbow, P.S. (2009) Biodynamic modelling and the prediction of accumulated trace metal concentrations in the polychaete Arenicola marina. Environmental Pollution 157, 2743–2750.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galay Burgos, M. and Rainbow, P.S. (1998) Uptake, accumulation and excretion by Corophium volutator (Crustacea: Amphipoda) of zinc, cadmium and cobalt added to sewage sludge. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 47, 603–620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, P. and Rainbow, P.S. (2012) London's dynamic biodiversity. London Naturalist, 90, 39–52.Google Scholar
Kalman, J., Smith, B.D., Bury, N.R. and Rainbow, P.S. (2014) Biodynamic modelling of the bioaccumulation of trace metals (Ag, As and Zn) by an infaunal estuarine invertebrate, the clam Scrobicularia plana. Aquatic Toxicology 154, 121–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langston, W.J., Pope, N.D., Chesman, B.S. and Burt, G.R. (2004) Bioaccumulation of metals in the Thames estuary – 2001. Thames Estuary Environmental Quality Series 10, 1–131.Google Scholar
Luoma, S.N. and Rainbow, P.S. (2008) Metal contamination in aquatic environments: science and lateral management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McEvoy, J., Langston, W.J., Burt, G.R. and Pope, N.D. (2000) Bioaccumulation of metals in the Thames estuary – 1997. Thames Estuary Environmental Quality Series 2, 1–116.Google Scholar
Moore, P.G. and Rainbow, P.S. (1987) Copper and zinc in an ecological series of talitroidean Amphipoda (Crustacea). Oecologia 73, 120–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, P.G., Rainbow, P.S. and Hayes, E. (1991) The beach-hopper Orchestia gammarellus (Crustacea: Amphipoda) as a biomonitor for copper and zinc: North Sea trials. Science of the Total Environment 106, 221–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nasrullah, A., Smith, B.D., Ehsanpour, M., Afkhami, M. and Rainbow, P.S. (submitted) Biomonitoring of trace metal bioavailabilities to the barnacle Amphibalanus improvisus along the Iranian coast of the Caspian Sea.Google Scholar
Pearson, C.D. and Green, J.B. (1993) Vanadium and nickel complexes in petroleum resid acid, base, and nickel fractions. Energy and Fuels 7, 338–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Power, M., Attrill, M.J. and Thomas, R.M. (1999) Heavy metal concentration trends in the Thames estuary. Water Research 33, 1672–1680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S. (1987) Heavy metals in barnacles. In Southward, A.J. (ed.) Barnacle biology. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema, pp. 405–417.Google Scholar
Rainbow, P.S. (2007) Trace metal bioaccumulation: models, metabolic availability and toxicity. Environment International 33, 576–582.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rainbow, P.S. and Blackmore, G. (2001) Barnacles as biomonitors of trace metal bioavailabilities in Hong Kong coastal waters: changes in space and time. Marine Environmental Research 51, 441–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S. and Luoma, S.N. (2011) Metal toxicity, uptake and bioaccumulation in aquatic invertebrates – modelling zinc in crustaceans. Aquatic Toxicology 105, 455–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rainbow, P.S. and Moore, P.G. (1986) Comparative metal analyses in amphipod crustaceans. Hydrobiologia 141, 273–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S., Blackmore, G. and Wang, W.-X. (2003) Effects of previous field exposure history on the uptake of trace metals from water and food by the barnacle Balanus amphitrite. Marine Ecology Progress Series 259, 201–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S., Fialkowski, W., Wolowicz, M., Smith, B.D. and Sokolowski, A. (2004) Geographical and seasonal variation of trace metal bioavailabilities in the Gulf of Gdansk, Poland using mussels (Mytilus trossulus) and barnacles (Balanus improvisus) as biomonitors. Marine Biology 144, 271–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S., Kriefman, S., Smith, B.D. & Luoma, S.N. (2011) Have the bioavailabilities of trace metals to a suite of biomonitors changed over three decades in SW England estuaries historically affected by mining? Science of the Total Environment 409, 1589–1602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S., Moore, P.G. and Watson, D. (1989) Talitrid amphipods as biomonitors for copper and zinc. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 28, 567–582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S., Smith, P.B.D. and Lau, S.S.S. (2002) Biomonitoring of trace metal availabilities in the Thames estuary using a suite of littoral biomonitors. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 82, 793–799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rainbow, P.S., Smith, B.D. and Luoma, S.N. (2009) Biodynamic modelling and the prediction of Ag, Cd and Zn accumulation from solution and sediment by the polychaete Nereis diversicolor. Marine Ecology Progress Series 390, 145–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southward, A.J. (2008) Barnacles. Synopses of the British Fauna (New Series) 57. Preston Montford: The Field Studies Council on behalf of The Linnean Society and The Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association.Google Scholar
Wang, W.-X., Qiu, J.-W. and Qian, P.-Y. (1999a) The trophic transfer of Cd, Cr, and Se in the barnacle Balanus amphitrite from planktonic food. Marine Ecology Progress Series 187, 191–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, W.-X., Qiu, J.-W. and Qian, P.-Y. (1999b) Significance of trophic transfer in predicting the high concentration of zinc in barnacles. Environmental Science and Technology 33, 2905–2909.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weeks, J.M. and Rainbow, P.S. (1991) The uptake and accumulation of zinc and copper from solution by two species of talitrid amphipods (Crustacea). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 71, 811–826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weeks, J.M. and Rainbow, P.S. (1993) The relative importance of food and seawater as sources of copper and zinc to talitrid amphipods (Crustacea; Amphipoda; Talitridae). Journal of Applied Ecology 30, 722–735.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, A.C. (1979) The tidal Thames: the history of a river and its fishes. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Johnstone supplementary material

Table S1

Download Johnstone supplementary material(File)
File 42 KB