Bioaccumulation and Dispersion of Uranium by Freshwater Organisms

Abstract

Uranium is the heaviest naturally occurring element on Earth. Uranium mining may result in ground and surface water contamination with potential bioaccumulation and dispersion by aquatic invertebrates with aerial stages. We investigated the effects of uranium contamination at community level in terms of abundance, richness, the composition of invertebrate communities, and functional traits. We also investigated uranium mobility across aquatic food webs and its transfer to land via the emergence of aquatic insects. We sampled water, sediment, biofilm, macrophytes, aquatic invertebrates, adult insects, and spiders in the riparian zone across sites with a gradient of uranium concentrations in stream water (from 2.1 to 4.7 µg L⁻¹) and sediments (from 10.4 to 41.8 µg g⁻¹). Macroinvertebrate assemblages differed between sites with a higher diversity and predominance of Nemouridae and Baetidae at the reference site and low diversity and predominance of Chironomidae in sites with the highest uranium concentration. Uranium concentrations in producers and consumers increased linearly with uranium concentration in stream water and sediment (p < 0.05). The highest accumulation was found in litter (83.76 ± 5.42 µg g⁻¹) and macrophytes (47.58 ± 6.93 µg g⁻¹) in the most contaminated site. Uranium was highest in scrapers (14.30 ± 0.98 µg g⁻¹), followed by shredders (12.96 ± 0.81 µg g⁻¹) and engulfer predators (7.01 ± 1.3 µg g⁻¹). Uranium in adults of aquatic insects in the riparian zone in all sites ranged from 0.25 to 2.90 µg g⁻¹, whereas in spiders it ranged from 0.96 to 1.73 µg g⁻¹, with no differences between sites (p > 0.05). There was a negative relationship between δ¹⁵N and uranium, suggesting there is no biomagnification along food webs. We concluded that uranium is accumulated by producers and consumers but not biomagnified nor dispersed to land with the emergence of aquatic insects.