Introduction
In many coastal ecosystems, humans and marine organisms are confronted with heavy metal contamination. Thus, such organisms could be used as a bioindicator to understand uptake pathways and the potential risks of these habitats to marine organisms and human health.
Objective
To relate 13 different trace metal concentrations between surrounding habitat and accumulation levels across early life stages of horseshoe crabs, which use these beaches for development and which the public frequents on Long Island, NY.
Methods
Metals were assessed in egg (prespawning), embryo (early postspawning), and larvae (late postspawning) stages. At all sites, eggs were extracted from adult females to obtain a baseline contamination level (ie, metals are transferred during egg formation). Embryos and larvae were collected from the sediment of each beach. Sediment and water were collected from all sites, and metal levels were compared to organism samples. Metal concentrations in all samples were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Descriptive statistics are reported and differences in life stages were analyzed using a Kruskal-Wallis test.
Results
All trace metals accumulated, but to varying degrees based on life stage and beach. Essential metals that are required for physiological function showed significant accumulation from egg to larval stages for most sites (P < .001). Nonessential metals, which can have toxic effects, showed significant accumulation from egg to larval stages for most sites (P < .001).
Conclusions
For a given metal, early stages related to sediment and water concentrations at some sites. Thus, local abiotic conditions may affect the uptake rate of each metal. We showed that metal bioaccumulation occurred at concentrations naturally found in habitats and suggested factors other than local levels of a contaminant should be considered when addressing the danger to organisms, including humans, that heavily use these areas.
Funding
WMS Hultgren Grant (2015).