Monitoring of water quality: Seasonal variations of heavy metals in sediment, suspended particulate matter and tubificids of the Elbe river

Abstract

Abstract Seasonal variations of the concentrations of the toxic heavy metals Hg, Cd and Pb in suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediment in a shallow inlet of the Elbe River were caused by phytoplankton dynamics: In summer, the phytoplankton bloom caused an increase of SPM content and a higher sedimentation rate . A"dilution”; of the highly polluted SPM coming downstream by authochthonous phytoplankton led to a decrease of heavy metal concentration in SPM and sediment. After the break‐down of the phytoplankton bloom the heavy metal concentration in SPM increased again. No seasonal variations of heavy metal concentrations were found in the tissue of tubificids. They are, therefore, not reliable biomonitors of heavy metal pollution.