Large-scale survey of lithium concentrations in marine organisms.

Trace metals such as Cu, Hg, and Zn have been widely investigated in marine ecotoxicological studies considering their bioaccumulation, transfer along trophic webs, and the risks they pose to ecosystems and human health. Comparatively, Li has received little attention, although this element is increasingly used in the high-tech, ceramics/glass, and medication industries. Here, we report Li concentrations in more than 400 samples, including whole organisms and different organs of bivalves, cephalopods, crustaceans, and fish. We investigated species from three contrasting biogeographic areas, i.e. temperate (Bay of Biscay, northeast Atlantic Ocean), tropical (New Caledonia, Pacific Ocean), and subpolar climates (Kerguelen Islands, southern Indian Ocean), among diverse trophic groups (filter-feeders to meso-predators) and habitats (benthic, demersal, and pelagic). Although Li is homogeneously distributed in the ocean (at 0.18 µg/mL), Li concentrations in soft tissues vary greatly, from 0.01 to 1.20 µg/g dry weight. Multiple correspondence analyses reveal two clusters of high and low Li concentrations. Li distributions in marine organisms appear to be mostly geographically independent, though our results highlight a temperature dependency in fish muscles. Li is consistently bio-reduced through the trophic webs, with filter-feeders showing the highest concentrations and predatory fish the lowest. Strong variations are observed among organs, consistent with the biochemical similarity between Na and Li during transport in the brain and in osmoregulatory organs. Fish gills and kidneys show relatively high Li concentrations (0.26 and 0.15 µg/g, respectively) and fish brains show a large range of Li contents (up to 0.34 µg/g), whereas fish liver and muscles are Li depleted (0.07 ± 0.03 and 0.06 ± 0.08 µg/g, respectively). Altogether, these results provide the first exhaustive baseline for future Li ecotoxicology studies in marine coastal environments.

High cadmium and mercury concentrations in the tissues of the orange-back flying squid, Sthenoteuthis pteropus, from the tropical Eastern Atlantic.

The orange-back flying squid, Sthenoteuthis pteropus, plays an important role in the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean (ETA) pelagic food web, as both predator and prey. Specimens of S. pteropus were caught off the Cape Verde Islands and concentrations of Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V, and Zn were measured in the digestive gland. Among the analysed elements, Cd showed the highest average concentration with values among the highest ever recorded in cephalopods. In addition to the digestive gland, Hg concentrations were also analysed in the buccal mass and mantle tissue. Among the three tissues, buccal mass showed the highest Hg concentrations. In females, Hg concentrations in the buccal mass were positively correlated with stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) and mantle length, showing both bioaccumulation with age and bioamplification along the trophic levels. High Cd and Hg concentrations in the digestive gland and muscle respectively would lead to elevated exposure of squid-eating top predators such as yellowfin tuna, swordfish or dolphinfish, which are commercially harvested for human consumption. This study provides a deeper understanding of the trace element contamination in an abundant and ecologically important, but poorly studied pelagic squid in the ETA.

Use of skin and blubber tissues of small cetaceans to assess the trace element content of internal organs.

In order to evaluate the use of biopsy samples as non-destructive tool for assessing trace element concentrations in small cetaceans, the concentrations of 14 trace elements were determined in skin, blubber, liver and kidneys of four species of small cetaceans (i.e. common dolphin Delphinus delphis, harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena, bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus and striped dolphin Stenella coeruleolba), stranded and/or by-caught along the NE Atlantic Ocean coast between 2001 and 2008. Only Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni and Zn were above the detection limit of the instruments and showed recoveries satisfactory enough to be interpreted. Among these trace elements, Hg was the only one showing a significant correlation between concentrations in and those in liver and kidneys. In consequence skin and blubber can only be used as non-invasive monitoring tissues to investigate Hg bioaccumulation in internal tissues for cetacean populations.

Trends in concentrations of selected metalloid and metals in two bivalves from the coral reefs in the SW lagoon of New Caledonia.

The concentrations of nine elements (Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn) were measured in the oyster Isognomon isognomon and the edible clam Gafrarium tumidum from different sites along the SW New Caledonian coast which is subjected to important chemical inputs due to intense land-based mining activities (New Caledonia is the third world producer of nickel). Results indicate that concentrations in the two organisms mirrored the geographical differences in contamination levels as established through element analyses in sediment. On the basis of organism analyses, two out of the seven investigated stations can be considered as relative "reference" sites, except for As, for which very high levels were detected in clam and oyster tissues (up to 441 microg g(-1) dry wt for clams). Overall, our results indicate that both tropical organisms investigated could be used as valuable bioindicator species for surveying metal contamination in the coastal waters of New Caledonia with reasonable perspectives of wider application to other coral reef environments.

Trace element levels in foetus-mother pairs of short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) stranded along the French coasts.

Tissues of foetus-mother pairs of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) stranded along the French coasts (Bay of Biscay and English Channel) were analysed for their Cd, Cu, Hg, Se and Zn contents. In the kidneys, foetal Cd levels were extremely low, and strong relationships between Cu and Zn suggested the involvement of metallothioneins since early foetal life. The results also indicated a limited maternal transfer of Hg during pregnancy since levels in the tissues of foetuses were below 1 microg g(-1) w.wt. However, hepatic Hg levels in foetuses increased with body length, and were also proportionate to maternal hepatic, renal and muscular Hg levels. Lastly, affinities between Hg and Se in tissues would participate in Hg neutralisation in both mothers--through tiemannite granules--and fetuses--through reduced glutathione--counteracting the toxic effects linked to the particularly high quantities of methyl-Hg to which marine mammals are naturally exposed.

Lead contamination of small cetaceans in European waters--the use of stable isotopes for identifying the sources of lead exposure.

Lead concentrations and isotopic composition have been measured in bone and teeth of small cetaceans belonging to three species (Delphinus delphis, Phocoena phocoena and Stenella coeruleoalba), to evaluate the toxicological risk and to determine sources of lead in the European waters. Lead concentrations, far lower than threshold value inducing toxic effects in human, were higher in teeth than in bones, but highly correlated between the two tissues (r=0.92, p<0.001). Large variations of 206Pb/207Pb values in bone tissue showed that cetaceans must be submitted to various atmospheric influences. No geographical differences appeared which is consistent with studies on their distribution indicating seasonal movements between Brittany waters and the Bay of Biscay. The negative correlation between 206Pb/207Pb ratios and age of the individuals reflected the decrease in the production of alkyl lead in Europe, i.e., the increasing use of unleaded gasoline.

Total and organic Hg concentrations in cephalopods from the North Eastern Atlantic waters: influence of geographical origin and feeding ecology.

Total (T-Hg) and organic (O-Hg) mercury concentrations and tissue distribution were examined in 20 species of cephalopods (n=278) from the north eastern Atlantic waters, i.e. from the Bay of Biscay to the Faroe Islands. Concentrations of T-Hg in whole cephalopods showed elevated variations among species, i.e. from 40 to 3560ng g(-1) dwt, but a low variability within each species (mean CV%=39%). With the exception of oceanic squids, the digestive gland globally displayed higher T-Hg concentrations than the remaining tissues. In contrast, O-Hg concentrations determined in selected species were generally higher in the remaining tissues. Despite higher T-Hg concentrations, the digestive gland weakly contributed to the total body burden of both T-Hg and O-Hg (<25% and <15%, respectively). In fact, from 75% to 95% of the T-Hg and O-Hg were contained in the muscular remaining tissues. Therefore, O-Hg may have a strong affinity to proteins in cephalopods. Sex and size only significantly influenced the bioaccumulation of Hg for the Loliginidae family. T-Hg and O-Hg concentrations were also influenced by geographical origin: Celtic Sea>Bay of Biscay>Faroe Islands, corresponding to the seawater Hg concentrations in these areas. In the Faroe Islands and the Celtic Sea, benthic cephalopods contained significant higher Hg concentrations compared to pelagic ones. This suggests that diet is not the main pathway of Hg uptake in cephalopods as pelagic species were expected to be more exposed to O-Hg through fish consumption than benthic ones.