Natural variability and distribution of trace elements in marine organisms from Antarctic coastal environments

Abstract

Abstract:In an attempt to improve the understanding of the natural variability and distribution of trace elements in Antarctic organisms, the concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, manganese, nickel, vanadium and zinc in representative benthic species from two pristine coastal environments were measured and compared with literature data for other uncontaminated coastal ecosystems. Correlations between the elements, differences between the species and between the sampling sites were examined by principal component analysis. Metal accumulation was particularly evident in the tissues of the sea star Odontaster validus, the bivalve mollusc Laternula elliptica and in the red alga Phyllophora antarctica. However, metal accumulation was not the same for all the analytes, but, rather, depended on the organism characteristics. In particular, the soft tissues of Odontaster validus were characterized by high concentrations of cadmium, zinc and copper, those of Phyllophora antarctica by high concentrations of manganese and nickel, and the tissues of Laternula elliptica by high concentrations of all measured elements, particularly in its digestive gland. The Antarctic data as well as those reported for other pristine coastal ecosystems showed remarkably high natural variability in metal content, which must be taken into account when interpreting results from biomonitoring programmes.

Hyperaccumulation of vanadium in the Antarctic polychaete Perkinsiana littoralis as a natural chemical defense against predation

“…More typical values for vanadium in marine organisms range from less than 0.2 to approximately 8 µg/g, also in areas impacted by vanadiumcontaining oil spills (Sperling et al 2000;Al-Mohanna and Subrahmanyam 2001;Lavilla et al 2006;Fattorini et al 2008). Our results on the two Antarctic bivalves sampled in the same area of P. littoralis, and previous results on vanadium concentrations in organisms from Terra Nova Bay never reported values higher than 3 µg/g (Minganti et al 1998;Bargagli 2005;Grotti et al 2008). These data indicate that vanadium content in branchial crowns of P. littoralis reflects a species-specific characteristic of this organism, rather than an elevated bioavailability of the metal in Terra Nova Bay.…”

Antimicrobial activity and resistance to heavy metals and antibiotics of heterotrophic bacteria isolated from sediment and soil samples collected from two Antarctic islands

“…Toxic compounds such as heavy metals, antibiotics, pesticides and other persistent pollutants can be transferred to the Antarctic continent through natural processes by mass flow in the atmosphere and water, improper disposal practices and/or incineration of wastes produced at research stations (De Souza et al 2006;Corsolini 2009;Lo Giudice et al 2013). In the Antarctic environment, the reduced growth rates of organisms due to the low temperature promote high concentrations of potential contaminants in the Antarctic biota (Grotti et al 2008;Mangano et al 2014). Heavy metals at high levels can have negative effects on all forms of life, while antimicrobials inhibit microbial activity, thus altering the microbiosphere and the biogeochemical cycles of biogenic elements (Martinez 2009).…”

Marine sponges as a powerful tool for trace elements biomonitoring studies in coastal environment

“…These previous results are in the same range of RSD found for Pb in Mediterranean sponges analyzed in the present study. A natural variability has thus to be expected, even for samples analyzed in pristine environment such as the Antarctic (Grotti et al, 2008). This natural variability is not always taken into consideration in biomonitoring studies and should be considered when interpreting results.…”