Abstract
The study was performed on residue-effects datasets from polluted and unpolluted sites in the Nalón River basin (northern Spain). The effects were measured in terms of alteration of field macroinvertebrate communities, and measured as ecological status scores, and number of families and abundance of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT). Non-linear regression models of the field-measured tissue residues in 10 taxa related to the ecological status of the macroinvertebrate communities were used to derive effective tissue residues (ERs). These were estimated for the good/moderate boundary defined by the ecological quality ratio (EQRs) score and for the 50% reduction of EQR and EPT metrics. As, Cu, Hg and Se ERs were calculated for several macroinvertebrate taxa with different feeding styles. The ER dataset allowed us to estimate As and Cu hazardous concentrations (HC), using species sensitivity distribution models, and were interpreted as community thresholds. Further studies for Hg and Se are needed to complete the database required for HC estimation. The reliability and differences of the several thresholds were tested in a risk assessment using a tissue-residue approach (TRA) conducted with field organisms from Cauxa Creek, a tributary from the same basin exposed to high levels of metals in the sediments due to gold mining activities. This risk assessment identified that As and Cu tissue residues satisfactorily explained the reduction in the ecological status of the macroinvertebrate assemblages. Our results indicate that TRA can help in setting future environmental quality standards for the protection of aquatic biota.Graphical
Highlights
IntroductionAreas having a high level of metals and metalloids (hereinafter, metals) due to their lithology have often, historically been exploited for metal extraction
Areas having a high level of metals and metalloids due to their lithology have often, historically been exploited for metal extraction
Tissue residues uploaded to the models from 15 potentially polluted sites from the Nalón River basin are shown in Online Appendix B, Table B1; data from 14 reference sites were reported by Rodriguez et al (2018)
Summary
Areas having a high level of metals and metalloids (hereinafter, metals) due to their lithology have often, historically been exploited for metal extraction. There is a general consensus on the convenience of including bioaccumulation data measured in indigenous organisms for sediment risk assessment (Chapman 2007; Adams et al 2011) and for the integration of toxicological and ecological information toward regulatory applications using a tissue residue approach (McCarty et al 2011). This integrative approach is especially suitable for assessing water quality in mining districts, where aquatic macroinvertebrates can accumulate high levels of metals (Cain et al 2004; Solà et al 2004; Méndez-Fernández et al 2015) and can become a significant source of dietary uptake for their predators (Clements 1991; EC 2011). The reliability of the proposed metal thresholds was tested in the Cauxa Creek risk assessment using a tissue-residue approach with field organisms
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