Fucus spp. as a Mercury Contamination Bioindicator in Costal Areas (Northwestern Portugal)

Abstract

Mercury has been considered as one of the most important pollutants in coastal and estuarine areas. Efforts have been made to detect, as early as possible, the effects of this and other metals in several species. Macroalgae, particularly Fucus spp., have been widely used as biomonitors of metal pollution. In this study, three Fucus species (F. spiralis, F. vesiculosus and F. ceranoides) were collected from several sampling sites in Portugal. The concentrations of mercury were determined in three structural parts (holdfast, stipe and receptacles). Two different techniques were used to determine mercury concentrations. Almost all mercury concentrations (in sediments and in water) were below national and international standards. Mercury concentration in the specimens (0.012-0.061 microg g(-1) for receptacles, 0.028-0.221 microg g(-1) for stipe and 0.029-0.287 microg g(-1) for holdfast) was always higher that those obtained for the sediment (0.001-0.112 microg g(-1)). With few exceptions the contrary was found for receptacles. In general, a good agreement between concentrations of mercury in sediment and Fucus was found. The results indicate that Fucus accumulate mercury and may be a suitable species for use in risk assessment for coast and estuarine areas, by providing valuable information regarding the levels of mercury that will be available for the consumers of Fucus spp.

Assessment of Mercury in Water, Sediments and Biota of a Southern European Estuary (Sado Estuary, Portugal)

“…Baeyers et al 2003;Coelho et al 2006), bioconcentration (higher concentration in biota than in the abiotic matrix; e.g. Baeyers et al 2003;Cairrão et al 2007) and biomagnification/bioamplification (the increase of mercury concentrations through the trophic web; e.g. Baeyers et al 2003;De Marco et al 2006).…”

“…Macroalgae have been studied as biomonitors of dissolved mercury (e.g. Coelho et al 2005;Cairrão et al 2007), yet free-floating algal species like the green macroalgae Ulva sp. will have higher mobility and may not reflect environment contamination where collected (Coelho et al 2005).…”

“…Once in biota, other processes may occur, namely the increase of mercury concentrations in fish (e.g. Baeyers et al 2003;De Marco et al 2006) or in shellfish (Coelho et al 2006) with age (bioaccumulation); higher mercury concentration in seston (Baeyers et al 2003) or in macroalgae (Cairrão et al 2007) than in the water column (bioconcentration); or the increase of mercury concentrations through the trophic chain (biomagnification/bioamplification; Baeyers et al 2003;De Marco et al 2006).…”

Induction of expression of a 14-3-3 gene in response to copper exposure in the marine alga, Fucus vesiculosus

“…are established sentinels for metal contamination of the marine environment, being exploited in bio-monitoring (e.g. Cairrao et al 2007;Giusti 2001; Barreiro et al 2002) and in in vitro toxicity tests . Copper may target various metabolic processes (Kupper et al 2002) but its inhibition of photosynthesis has attracted the most attention (see e.g.…”

Long-term response of an arctic fiord system to lead–zinc mining and submarine disposal of mine waste (Maarmorilik, West Greenland)

“…The study is based on analyses of seawater, sediment and the marine organisms -seaweed (Fucus vesiculosus/Fucus distichus) and blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). These relatively sedentary organisms concentrate metals, reflect different bioavailable metal-sources within the seawater and have been used as biological monitors of heavy metal pollution in a number of previous studies, including the so-called Mussel Watch Programs (Rainbow, 1995;Cairrao et al, 2007;O'Connor and Lauenstein, 2006;Torres et al, 2008). Data include those from samples taken during the mining period before 1990 and until 2009 and make a detailed consistent record of high-resolution data from environmental monitoring and research in the area.…”