Heavy metals concentration and bioaccumulation in soft tissues of the burrowing crab, Neohelice granulata, in the Bahía Blanca Estuary, Argentina

SIMONETTI, P.; BOTTÉ, S. E.; FIORI, S. M.; MARCOVECCHIO, J. E.

ARCHIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Paron; Año: 2011 vol. 62 p. 243 - 253

0090-4341

Copper (Cu), cadmium(Cd), and chromium (Cr)in soft tissues of male and female burrowing crab Neohelicegranulate, as well as their eggs, were measured in two differentlocations in the Bahı´a Blanca estuary, a moderatelypolluted ecosystem, from October 2008 to August 2009.Differences between sexes, sites, and seasonality wereassessed. Furthermore, metal levels in eggs were comparedwith metal levels in female crabs. The results showed nosignificant differences for Cu and Cd between sexes (Studentt test p[0.25 for both sites) and sites (two-way analysis ofvariance: Cu p = 0.82 and Cd p = 0.29). Nevertheless,seasonality was found, with winter having significantlylower concentrations for both metals. The range of Cuconcentrations was between 96.92 and 152.18 lg g-1 dryweight (dw), and the range of Cd concentrations wasbetween 6.09 and 10.41 lg g-1 dw. Cr concentrations couldnot be assessed because most of the values were lower thanthe detection limit. Although heavy metals in sedimentswere not measured in this study, a bioaccumulation processmay be occurring for Cd because levels found during theentire sampling period were greater than levels in sedimentfrom previous years. For Cu, a regulation process may beoccurring considering that this is an essential metal andlevels of Cu in N. granulata found in this study were between1 and 2 orders of magnitude greater than levels in sediments.Finally, Cu and Cd levels in eggs were detectable, but theywere lower than levels in female crabs. The importance ofthese findings is linked to the fact that metal accumulationseems to be occurring before hatch. The presence of heavymetals in soft tissues as well as in eggs of N. granulata is ofgreat importance considering that this is a key species withinthe Bahı´a Blanca estuary; therefore, it plays a major role inthe transference of pollutants to greater trophic levels.