Bioaccumulation and toxicity of copper in outdoor freshwater microcosms

• Published in: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety Vol. 74; no. 4; pp. 1011 - 1020
• Main Authors: Hoang, Tham C., Pryor, Rachel L., Rand, Gary M., Frakes, Robert A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01-05-2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: agricultural soils; Agriculture; alkalinity; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Apples; Applied ecology; Aquatic Organisms - drug effects; Aquatic Organisms - growth & development; bioaccumulation; Biological and medical sciences; boys; Citrus; Copper; Copper - toxicity; Culicidae; Cyprinodontiformes - growth & development; Cyprinodontiformes - metabolism; Dissolution; dissolved organic carbon; dissolved oxygen; Ecosystem; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environmental Monitoring; Equus; Falconiformes - metabolism; fiberglass; Fish; Floods; Florida apple snails; Food Chain; Fresh Water - chemistry; Freshwater; Freshwater microcosms; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gambusia affinis; General aspects; hardness; Humans; hydrochemistry; Invertebrates; Male; Mollusca; mortality; periphyton; Pomacea paludosa; predators; rain; Reproduction; Reproduction - drug effects; risk; Shells; Snails; Snails - drug effects; Snails - growth & development; Soil - chemistry; Soil Pollutants - toxicity; Soils; tanks; toxicity; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Florida; United States; North America; America; USA, Florida, Palm Beach Cty; ASW, USA, Florida; USA, Florida; Pomacea paludosa; Florida apple snails; Copper; Freshwater microcosms; Ecotoxicology; Toxicity; Fresh water; Microcosm; Gastropoda; Heavy metal; Pollutant; Environment; Invertebrata; Mollusca; Biological accumulation
• ISSN: 0147-6513; 1090-2414
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2011.01.015

This study characterizes the effects of copper (Cu) on Florida apple snails (
Pomacea paludosa) and mosquito fish (
Gambusia affinis) using a replicated outdoor microcosm design. Soils used in this study were collected from two Cu-enriched citrus agricultural sites in South Florida (Agler property (AGLR) in St. Lucie County and Sunrise Boys property (SRB) in Palm Beach County) and a reference site (Equus property) in St. Lucie County. The study included a 5-week aging phase, an 11 month exposure phase, and a 3 month post-treatment (exposure) phase. The aging phase was initiated by flooding agricultural soils with rainwater in 4
m
3 fiberglass microcosm tanks. Introducing juvenile apple snails (≤7
d old) and mosquito fish (2–3
cm) into the microcosm tanks initiated the exposure phase. Survival, growth, and reproduction of apple snails and fish, and Cu uptake in apple snails, fish, and periphyton were determined in this study. Water chemistry (e.g., dissolved Cu concentration, dissolved organic carbon and dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH, hardness, alkalinity, etc.) was measured daily or weekly during the study. Initial soil Cu concentrations in Equus, SRB, and AGLR microcosms were 7, 55, and 99
mg/kg dw, respectively. Dissolved Cu concentrations in Equus, SRB and AGLR microcosms at the beginning of the study were 3, 82, and 43
μg/L, respectively and decreased to low saturation levels of about ≤9
μg/L Cu after the first 3 months of the study. The decrease of dissolved Cu concentrations was likely due to the dilution of rainwater. Snail and fish mortality appeared to be higher in SRB microcosms than in Equus and AGLR microcosms. There was no significant difference in growth of the snails between treatments. Snail growth data followed the von Bertalanffy Model. The maximum shell length, shell height, and shell width of the snails calculated by the von Bertalanffy Model (
L
∞) were 2.76, 2.05, and 2.18
cm, respectively. The maximum wet weight was 9.38
g. Growth rate (
k) of the snails increased in order of shell height (0.459), shell length (0.550), and shell weight (0.598). There was no reproduction in the snails in any treatments including the reference during the exposure phase. However, Cu did not affect reproduction of fish during this period. Copper concentrations in periphyton from Equus, SRB, and AGLR microcosms ranged from 2 to 62, 31 to 371, and 13 to 478
mg/kg, respectively. Copper concentrations in fish at the beginning, days 30 and 150 of the study ranged from 3.19 to 7.53
mg/kg and were not significantly different from the different treatments. Average Cu concentrations in the soft tissue of dead snails from SRB and AGLR microcosms were 4602
mg/kg dw (ranged from 2913 to 8370
mg/kg dw) and 2824
mg/kg dw (ranged from 2118 to 3600
mg/kg dw), respectively. The Cu concentrations in the soft tissue of dead snails found in this study were higher than the tissue Cu concentrations in live aquatic organisms reported in the literature. These high Cu concentrations in edible apple snail soft tissue might pose a risk to Florida apple snail predators, including the snail kite. The post-exposure phase, with snails exposed to only water (i.e., no soils) showed depuration of copper from apple snails and reproduction in all treatments.