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Arsenic and chlordecone contamination and decontamination toxicokinetics in Sargassum sp.

  • Pesticide Usage and the Transition to Sustainable Farming Systems: Challenges and Advances
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Abstract

Massive Sargassum sp. beachings have been occurring on Caribbean shores since 2011. The sargassum involved in such events are S. fluitans and S. natans, two drifting species whose proliferation has been observed in the southern North Atlantic Ocean. Both for reasons of environmental and sanitary assessment and repurposing, Sargassum sp. that is ashore piled up on beaches and decaying must be studied. Studies are required because of the concerning content of pelagic arsenic reported in the literature. They are also needed owing to Sargassum sp. contamination subsequent to historical pollution in the French West Indies by chlordecone, an insecticide used against the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus. The present study aims to describe the contamination and decontamination toxicokinetics of arsenic and chlordecone for Sargassum sp. stranding on shores and shallows in the Caribbean, in order to support the decision-making of the authorities involved. In situ and in mesocosm experiments performed in the present study show that Sargassum sp. contamination by chlordecone is mainly done after 2 h of exposition and reaches equilibrium after a day of exposure in polluted water, but BCF study suggests that the phenomenon is not actively supported (passive soption only). Arsenic transudation is intense in the case of immerged algae both. Half of the arsenic content is transudated after 13 h at sea and will transudate until vestigial arsenic concentration. Sargassum sp. contamination by arsenic, due to phytoaccumulation offshore, is broadly homogeneous before decay, and then leaks lead rapidly to a decrease in concentration in Sargassum sp. necromass, questioning the subsequent contamination of the coastal environment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank the French Energy and Environment Agency (ADEME) for granting and Celia Northam (SIMILITUDE) for English editing.

Funding

French Energy and Environment Agency (ADEME) granted the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département des Sciences et Technologies, Centre Universitaire de Formation et de Recherche de Mayotte, RN3, BP53, 97660, Dembeni, Mayotte, France

    Damien A. Devault

  2. La Drôme Laboratoire, 37 avenue de Lautagne, BP 118, Valence, France

    Félix Massat & Alexandre Baylet

  3. Unité Biologie des organismes et écosystèmes aquatiques (BOREA), Université des Antilles, MNHN, Sorbonne Université, Université de Caen Normandie, CNRS, IRD, Pointe-à-Pitre, France

    Franck Dolique & Pascal-Jean Lopez

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  1. Damien A. Devault
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  2. Félix Massat
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  3. Alexandre Baylet
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  4. Franck Dolique
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  5. Pascal-Jean Lopez
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Contributions

DAD performed the conception, preparation, sampling, experiment, the analysis of results and the writing of the present article. FM contributed to the preparation, experiment, analysis and writing. AB contributed to the experiment. FD contributed to the conception and sampling. P-JL contributed to the conception.

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Correspondence to Damien A. Devault.

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Appendices

Appendix 1. KOC calculation

In order to interpret chlordecone concentration, KOC calculation is needed. KOC is a partition coefficient (Kd) between water and organic carbon. This partition coefficient has already been standardized (US-EPA (1991, 1998, 2000), OECD (2001) and INERIS (2001)).

Chlordecone-free sargassum was sampled on the Frégate Est site, where chlordecone has never been quantified in sargassum. Sargassum samples were placed in a 6-L glass vessel filled with Milli-Q water, and in which 50 g of Curlone© had been dissolved. Due to sargassum input, the water reached a pH of 7.4. The vessel was agitated for 24 h in darkness to avoid photolysis, known to occur on chlordecone. The stipes, thalli and bladders were dissociated in order to be analyzed separately.

$$ {\mathrm{K}}_{\mathrm{oc}}=\frac{{\mathrm{K}}_{\mathrm{d}}}{{\mathrm{f}}_{\mathrm{oc}}} $$
(2)
Table 6 Chlordecone and 5b-hydrochlordecone concentrations (wet weight), and dry matter and organic carbon content of sargassum (whole and dispatched)
Full size table
Table 7 Chlordecone and 5b-hydrochlordecone concentrations (wet weight), and dry matter and organic carbon content of sargassum (whole and dissected)
Full size table

Appendix 2. Pictures

Leaching in the containers for As study

figure a

Leaching in the glass aquaria for CLD study

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figure d
figure e
figure f
figure g

Sargassum sp. rubbing

figure h

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Devault, D.A., Massat, F., Baylet, A. et al. Arsenic and chlordecone contamination and decontamination toxicokinetics in Sargassum sp.. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 6–16 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12127-7

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