Heavy Metal Concentrations Found in Seston and Microplankton from an Impacted Temperate Shallow Estuary along the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

ABSTRACT Fernandez Severini, M.D.; Villagran, D.M.; Biancalana, F.; Berasategui, A.A.; Spetter, C.V.; Tartara, M.N.; Menendez, M.C.; Guinder, V.A., and Marcovecchio, J.E., 2017. Heavy metal concentrations found in seston and microplankton from an impacted temperate shallow estuary along the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. Heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were studied in the Bahia Blanca Estuary (BBE), one of the most anthropogenically disturbed estuaries in the SW Atlantic Ocean. This study evaluated metal concentrations in the microplankton and seston for the first time, as well as their role in the transport of contaminants in a disturbed coastal environment of the SW Atlantic. Spatial patterns of metals in suspended particulate matter (SPM; seston > 0.45 μm) and microplankton (20–200 μm) were analyzed at sampling sites located at sewage or industrial discharges and, also far from this area, during warm months in 2012 and 2013. Dissolved inorganic nutrients, particulate organ...