Availability of arsenic to estuarine and marine organisms: A field and laboratory evaluation

The high concentrations of arsenic entering Restronguet Creek, Cornwall (England), make this an ideal area for speciation and availability studies. This paper reports the results of a number of surveys and experiments carried out between January 1978 and June 1981, designed to investigate As availability in selected estuarine and marine organisms. Seasonal variations in dissolved As inputs are reflected in the As content of the seaweedFucus vesiculosus and also in two gastropod species,Littorina littorea andL. littoralis, which derive significant amounts of As by grazing onF. vesiculosus. In contrast, no seasonal variation in As concentration was observed in tissues of the bivalveScrobicularia plana. Transplant experiments and radiotracer studies confirm that sediments are the major source of As to this deposit-feeder. The mantle margin ofs. plana has a significant, but as yet unknown, role in As accumulation. Transplant experiments with these and other estuarine and marine organisms have revealed differences in the relative availability of dissolved and particulate As. Notably, As accumulation inMytilus edulis was negligible compared with other molluscs. The results are discussed in terms of the selection of suitable indicators of various forms of As contamination.