Sediment and biota trace element distribution in streams disturbed by upland industrial activity

Abstract

Extensive industrial areas in headwater stream watersheds can severely impact the physical condition of streams and introduce contaminants. We compared 3 streams that received stormwater runoff and industrial effluents from industrial complexes to 2 reference streams. Reference streams provide a benchmark of comparison of geomorphic form and stability in coastal plain, sandy‐bottomed streams as well as concentrations of trace elements in sediment and biota in the absence of industrial disturbance. We used crayfish (Cambarus latimanus, Procambarus raneyi, Procambarus acutus) and crane fly larvae (Tipula) as biomonitors of 15 trace elements entering aquatic food webs. Streams with industrial areas were more scoured, deeply incised, and less stable. Sediment organic matter content broadly correlated to trace element accumulation, but fine sediments and organic matter were scoured from the bottoms of disturbed streams. Trace element concentrations were higher in depositional zones than runs within all streams. Despite contaminant sources in the headwaters, trace element concentrations were generally not elevated in sediments of the eroded streams. However, element concentrations were frequently elevated in biota from these streams with taxonomic differences in accumulation amplified. In eroded, sand‐bottomed coastal plain streams with unstable sediments, single snapshots of sediment trace element concentrations did not characterize well bioavailable trace elements. Biota that integrated exposures over time and space within their home ranges better detected bioavailable contaminants than sediment. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:115–131. © 2018 SETAC

Effect of urbanization on heavy metal contamination: a study on major townships of Kannur District in Kerala, India

“…The elevated levels of heavy metals in the environment cause series health risks to the living and non-living organisms (Santos et al 2005). Many researches like Bryan and Langston (1992), Tam and Wong (1996), Tam and Wong (1997), Khan et al (2000), McGrath et al (2001), Alam et al (2003), Veeresh et al (2003), Banerjee (2003), Sharma et al (2004), Krishna and Govil (2004), Rattan et al (2005), Ray et al (2006), Abbas et al (2007), Krishna and Govil (2008), Pandey and Pandey (2009), Sekabira et al (2010), Prakash et al (2011), Parth et al (2011), Krishna et al (2013), Chandrasekaran et al (2015), Zhao et al (2016), Feng et al (2017), Islam et al (2017), Ribeiro et al (2018), Fletcher et al (2019), Chai et al (2019), EL Turk et al (2019), Sayooj et al (2020), Wang et al (2020) and Alfaifi et al (2021) have carried out studies on heavy metal contamination in different environmental matrices.…”