Elevated temperature enhances the bioavailability of pyrene to Daphnia magna in the presence of dissolved organic matter: Implications for the effect of climate warming

Abstract

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an essential factor in natural waters to affect the bioavailability of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs). Climate warming may influence the partition of HOCs between DOM and water as well as the physiology of organisms. Thus, we hypothesized that elevated temperature might affect the bioavailability of HOCs in the presence of DOM. To test this hypothesis, the effect of temperature on the bioavailability of pyrene to Daphnia magna (D. magna) in water-DOM (fulvic acid) system was investigated. The results showed that, although the concentration of freely dissolved pyrene increased slightly with temperature in the presence of DOM when the level of total dissolved pyrene was kept constant, D. magna immobilization (increased by 50.0–167%) and internal body burden of pyrene (increased by 18.4–41.5%) increased significantly with every 4 °C increase in temperature (16, 20, 24 °C). The main reasonable explanation for this result is that elevated temperature promoted pyrene uptake by D. magna. It was found that the increase percentage of 1-hydroxypyrene (main metabolite of pyrene) concentrations with temperature was higher than that of pyrene concentrations in the body except gut of D. magna. This result indicated that increased temperature might enhance the metabolic rates of D. magna, thus leading to increased uptake rate of freely dissolved and DOM-associated pyrene. This study suggests that elevated temperature might enhance the bioavailability of HOCs in natural waters through influencing both the bioavailable fraction of HOCs and their uptake rates in aquatic organisms, and this should be considered for evaluating their eco-environmental risks under the context of climate warming.