Environmental drivers of rare earth element bioaccumulation in freshwater zooplankton
Article [Accepted Manuscript]
Is part of
Environmental science and technology ; vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 1650-1660.Publisher(s)
American Chemical SocietyAuthor(s)
Affiliation
Abstract(s)
Human activities have resulted in significant
release of rare earth elements (REEs) into the environment.
However, the pathways of REEs from waters and soils into
freshwater food webs remain poorly understood. Recent
studies suggest that aquatic invertebrates may be good
biomonitors for REEs, yet there is little information on
factors that control REE bioaccumulation in these organisms.
Our goal was to study the environmental drivers of REE levels
in zooplankton, a key component in plankton food webs,
across lakes from geographic areas with different bedrock
geology. From 2011 to 2014, bulk zooplankton samples were
collected for REE analysis from 39 lakes in eastern Canada.
We observed a more than 200 fold variation in surface water
REE concentrations and a 10-fold variation in sediment REE concentrations. These concentration gradients were associated
with a range of more than an order of magnitude in zooplankton REE concentrations (∑REEY 3.2−210 nmol g−1
). We found
higher REE bioaccumulation in zooplankton from lakes with lower pH and higher REE to dissolved organic carbon ratios.
Bioaccumulation was also strongly linked to the free ion concentrations of REEs (REE3+) in surface waters. Our study suggests
that zooplankton REE bioaccumulation is an excellent predictor of bioavailable REEs in freshwaters.
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