Heavy Metals levels in the Suspended Particulate Matter SPM and plankton of the ?El Rincón System?, Southwestern Atlantic, (Argentine Sea)

FERNÁNDEZ SEVERINI MELISA DAIANA; MARCOVECCHIO JORGE EDUARDO; BERASATEGUI ANABELLA ANAHI; VILLAGRAN DIANA MARIEL; CHATELAIN SARTOR GABRIELA; FERNÁNDEZ SEVERINI MELISA DAIANA; MARCOVECCHIO JORGE EDUARDO; BERASATEGUI ANABELLA ANAHI; VILLAGRAN DIANA MARIEL; CHATELAIN SARTOR GABRIELA

San Luis

Congreso; VII Congreso Argentino de la Sociedad de Toxicología y Química Ambiental (SETAC, Capítulo Argentino); 2018

Universidad Nacional de San Luis

?El Rincón? system is a future protected area in the North Patagonian coast (Argentina, SW Atlantic) that is connected with the Bahía Blanca estuary and the Anegada Bay in the west, and it receives contributions of fresh water from the Colorado and Negro rivers. It is a very productive area because of the high development of primary and secondary producers (fitoplankton and mesozooplankton) where there is a significant development of fishes of ecological and economic importance.Metals play a fundamental role in the functioning of the ocean. Some of them are considered essential for marine organisms, while others can be toxic. In fact, they are considered stable, persistent and non-biodegradable contaminants. In this sense, the SPM has been recognized both as carrier and as possible source of contaminants affecting their transport, biogeochemistry, bioavailability and toxicity. Also, plankton organisms are on the basis of the trophic webs and they have a great capacity to retain and transfer these elements not only at the spatial level, but also through the trophic webs. We evaluated the spatial distribution of some metals in the microplankton, mesozooplankton and SPM. Sampling was carried out during El Rincón IADO-PNA 0516 oceanographic survey during the austral autum 2016 (April 2016), at 6 sites in the ?El Rincón? system. Surface water samples for SPM were collected, from a nominal depth of 5m, with 5L Niskin bottles. Microplankton and mesozooplankton samples were collected by means of oblique tows, using plankton nets of 20 μm and 200 μm mesh respectively. Determinations were performed with an ICP-OES Optima 2100 DV Perkin Elmer.The ranges of the metals in SPM, microplankton and mesozooplankton were the following respectively (µg/g d.w.): Cd: 1.09-3.72, 0.23-1.04, 0.72-9.60; Cu: 32.61-58.49, 9.81-17.24, 17.88-48.40; Pb: 28.54-85.50, 7.95-13.32, 6.93-14.25; Zn: 71.94-125.70, 32.87-44.54, 54.94-86048; Mn: 403.30-716.20, 252.20-345.10, 63.77-375.50; Ni: 26.25-38.72, 8.95-13.75, 7.54-16.85; Cr: 28.58-57.10, 11.22-15.73, 5.33-14.81; Fe: 10130-28680, 11390-12340 2640-14070.The highest concentrations of all metals in all fractions were found in the sites near the Colorado and Negro rivers, indicating that ?El Rincon? system is influenced by external contributors and the main sources are the rivers. Since all the analyzed metals were detected in micro and mesozooplankton at all sampled sites, they were bioavailable to the organisms as well as bioaccumulated.