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Tracing Rare Earth Element Sources in Ucides cordatus Crabs by Means of 147Sm/144Nd and 143Nd/144Nd Isotopic Systematics

Water, Air, & Soil Pollution volume 229, Article number: 365 (2018) Cite this article

Abstract

This study tested for the first time 147Sm/144Nd and 143Nd/144Nd ratios as tracers of rare earth element (REE) sources in semi-terrestrial organisms from a subtropical estuary affected by fertilizer industry activities. The isotopic composition of claw muscles and shells of male crabs (Ucides cordatus) were obtained by thermal ionization mass spectrometry, and provided contrasting signatures incorporated from the physical components by the biota. Our findings showed that crab shells had isotopic compositions similar to seawater, while the claw muscles incorporated the isotopic signature of sediments contaminated by fertilizer. The isotopic ratios (147Sm/144Nd and 143Nd/144Nd) proved that the anthropogenic source is transferring contaminants to the crabs, emerging as a reliable tool to diagnose REE pathway and source to the biota in impacted environments.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the PhD fellowship granted to the first author. We also thank to Dr. Gilhooly III (IUPUI) for the helpful suggestions and comments; the manuscript greatly improved with his support.

Funding

This study is financially supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP - Proc. No. 08-11511-8) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq - Proc. No. 432922/2016-4).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geosciences, Department of Geology and Natural Resources, University of Campinas, São Paulo, 13083870, Brazil

    Alice Bosco-Santos & Wanilson Luiz-Silva

  2. Institute of Geosciences, Department of Geology, University of Brasília, Brasília, Distrito Federal, 70910900, Brazil

    Elton Luiz Dantas

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  1. Alice Bosco-Santos
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  2. Wanilson Luiz-Silva
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  3. Elton Luiz Dantas
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Correspondence to Alice Bosco-Santos.

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Bosco-Santos, A., Luiz-Silva, W. & Dantas, E.L. Tracing Rare Earth Element Sources in Ucides cordatus Crabs by Means of 147Sm/144Nd and 143Nd/144Nd Isotopic Systematics. Water Air Soil Pollut 229, 365 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-018-3990-z

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