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Metal release from contaminated leaf litter and leachate toxicity for the freshwater crustacean Gammarus fossarum

  • Aquatic organisms and biological responses to assess water contamination and ecotoxicity
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Abstract

Industrialization has left large surfaces of contaminated soils, which may act as a source of pollution for contiguous ecosystems, either terrestrial or aquatic. When polluted sites are recolonized by plants, dispersion of leaf litter might represent a non-negligible source of contaminants, especially metals. To evaluate the risks associated to contaminated leaf litter dispersion in aquatic ecosystems, we first measured the dynamics of metal loss from leaf litter during a 48-h experimental leaching. We used aspen (Populus tremula L.), a common tree species on these polluted sites, and collected leaf litter on three polluted sites (settling pond of a former steel mill) and three control sites situated in the same geographic area. Then, toxicity tests were carried out on individuals of a key detritivore species widely used in ecotoxicology tests, Gammarus fossarum (Crustacea, Amphipoda), with uncontaminated and contaminated leaf litter leachates, using a battery of biomarkers selected for their sensitivity to metallic stress. Leaf litters collected on polluted sites exhibited not only significantly higher cadmium and zinc concentrations but also lower lignin contents. All leaf litters released high amounts of chemical elements during the leaching process, especially potassium and magnesium, and, in a lesser extent, phosphorus, calcium, and trace metals (copper, cadmium, and zinc but not lead). Toxicity tests revealed that the most important toxic effects measured on G. fossarum were due to leaf litter leachates by themselves, whatever the origin of litter (from polluted or control sites), confirming the toxicity of such substances, probably due to their high content in phenolic compounds. Small additional toxic effects of leachates from contaminated leaf litters were only evidenced on gammarid lipid peroxidation, indicating that contaminated leaf litter leachates might be slightly more toxic than uncontaminated ones, but in a very reduced manner. Further studies will be required to verify if these patterns are generalizable to other species and to investigate the effects of contaminated leaf litter ingestion by consumers on aquatic food webs. Nevertheless, our results do not permit to exclude potential chronic effects of an exposure to contaminated leaf litter leachates in aquatic ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the TransMet EC2CO program to F. Fraysse, by the « Agence De l’Environnement et de la Maitrise de l’Energie » (ADEME—grant number 1172C0040), and the « Observatoire Terre Environnement Lorrain » (OteLo—grant number L01648/PROJET). We also thank C. Fouque for technical help for preliminary tests and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 7360, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux (LIEC), Université de Lorraine, Rue C. Bernard, 57530, Metz, France

    Florence Maunoury-Danger, Vincent Felten, Clément Bojic, Fabrice Fraysse, François Guérold & Michael Danger

  2. CNRS, UMR 7360, LIEC, UMR 7360, Rue C. Bernard, Metz, France

    Florence Maunoury-Danger, Vincent Felten, Fabrice Fraysse, François Guérold & Michael Danger

  3. UMR-I 02 Stress Environnementaux et BIOsurveillance des milieux aquatiques (SEBIO), INERIS-URCA-ULH, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Metz, France

    Mar Cosin Ponce, Odile Dedourge-Geffard & Alain Geffard

  4. LTER-“Zone Atelier Moselle”, LIEC, UMR7360, Metz, France

    Michael Danger

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  1. Florence Maunoury-Danger
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  2. Vincent Felten
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  3. Clément Bojic
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  4. Fabrice Fraysse
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  5. Mar Cosin Ponce
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  6. Odile Dedourge-Geffard
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  7. Alain Geffard
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  8. François Guérold
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  9. Michael Danger
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Correspondence to Michael Danger.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Highlights

Contaminated leaf litters release more metals than uncontaminated ones.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates are impacted by leaf litter leachates,

Leaf litter contamination had almost no effect on the toxicity of leachates.

Effects of chronic exposures to contaminated leachates should be explored.

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Maunoury-Danger, F., Felten, V., Bojic, C. et al. Metal release from contaminated leaf litter and leachate toxicity for the freshwater crustacean Gammarus fossarum . Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 11281–11294 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9452-0

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