Invertebrates Minimize Accumulation of Metals and Metalloids in Contaminated Environments

Abstract

Many studies were conducted measuring the lethal concentration of pollutants by using a contaminated solution or polluted sediments. Considering the impact of polluted food on mortality and uptake quantity of invertebrate shredders in batch cultures, little is known about, e.g. uranium and cadmium. Consequently, we investigated in situ the impact of metal and metalloid polluted food and water on Gammarus pulex L. under nature-like conditions. In contrast to other publications, a very low mortality rate of the invertebrates was found. Furthermore, fixation of elements by G. pulex was shown to be low compared to initial concentrations. Fixation of non essential metals and metalloids is shown to take place mainly on the surface of the invertebrates. This is deduced from easy desorption of a relevant amount of fixed metals and metalloids. It is concluded that the accumulation of metals and metalloids in situ under nature-like conditions within the food web via invertebrate shredders is very low. The invertebrates seem to minimize the uptake of non essential elements in the presence of nutrient-rich food even in habitats with higher contamination levels. Hence, invertebrates seem to be adapted to higher contamination levels in their favourable habitats.

The relative importance of diet-related and waterborne effects of copper for a leaf-shredding invertebrate

“…4c), which seems to be only slightly influenced by the presence of Cu containing food in the animals' guts (see calculations in Supplementary Information). Moreover, the direct path even resulted in a significantly more pronounced increase (by~50%) compared to the indirect one (bỹ 30%; Student's t-test; P ¼ 0.012), which may partly be due to Cu adsorption to the animals' cuticle (Schaller et al, 2011a). Nonetheless, waterborne Cu exposure did not impair animals' physiological status (Table 2; Fig.…”

Metal Exposure and Sex Shape the Fatty Acid Profile of Midges and Reduce the Aquatic Subsidy to Terrestrial Food Webs

“…Larvae of each replicate were kept in freshly prepared medium for 24 h so that metals and metalloids would desorb from organisms’ surfaces and the organisms purge their gut (cf. Schaller et al). To avoid cannibalism, a small amount of ground fish flake food was added.…”

Evaluation of effects of exposure conditions on the biological responses of Gammarus pulex exposed to cadmium

“…Although, aquatic organisms have a low biomass, they represent different trophic levels, and they are widely exposed to heavy metals (Alves et al 2009;Schaller et al 2011). It has shown in prior studies that the production reactive oxygen species (ROS) was increased, accelerating oxidative stress.…”