PARENT SESSION
IP07 - Fate & Effect of Metals: Aquatic Dietary Perspectives
Chair: Fisher, Nick1, 1 Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
2:10 PM to 5:30 PM - Monday, 18 November 2002
Room Room 150 G
(IP49) Metal uptake routes for a sediment-dwelling metal biomonitor .
Croisetiere, Louis*,1, Hare, Landis1, Tessier, Andre1, 1 INRS-ETE, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada
ABSTRACT- Measurements of trace metals in biomonitors allow us to quantify metal exposure in a biologically meaningful way and, using an appropriate model, estimate metal concentrations in water or sediment. To be effective, such models should be based on chemical and biological knowledge about the organism and the metal. Larvae of the predatory insect Sialis have been proposed as a sedimentary trace metal biomonitor in lakes. However, the route of entry of metals into this insect, that is, food or water, has yet to be determined in nature. This information is a key factor in determining how a mechanistic model for this biomonitor should be constructed. We conducted a field experiment in which we exposed Sialis to water or to prey that were rich in several environmentally important trace metals including cadmium, copper, lead and zinc. Our results to date suggest that the main uptake route for both cadmium and lead is the diet. Thus the dissolved metal exposures used in many laboratory experiments do not represent the manner in which animals are exposed to trace metals in nature.
Key words: Biomonitor, Sediment, Trace metals, Sialis