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Content archived on 2019-03-15

A FIELD AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF FACTORS CONTROLLING THE BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY OF HEAVY METALS AND THEIR IMPACT ON ESTUARINE BENTHIC ORGANISMS.

Objective

ASSESSMENT OF SOME OF THE VARIOUS FACTORS WHICH PROMOTE OR INHIBIT THE BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY OF HEAVY METALS IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT.

SURVEY OF 13 METALS (AG, AS, CD, CO, DR, CU, FE, HG, MN, NI, PB, SN, ZN) IN ORGANISMS AND SEDIMENTS FROM OVER 50 ESTUARIES HAVE SHOWN THAT DIFFERENCES IN CONCENTRATION BETWEEN PRISTINE AND CONTAMINATED SITES CAN AMOUNT TO 2 OR 3 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. SOME BENTHIC ORGANISMS ARE COMMON TO A WIDE RANGE OF SITES AND THIS PROVIDES AN IDEAL SITUATION FOR FIELD EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON RELATIONS BETWEEN ORGANISMS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND ON THE EFFECTS OF METALS.

DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF PROPOSED WORK, ALL OF WHICH ARE INTERLINKED INCLUDE:

- STUDIES TO DETERMINE THE USEFULNESS OF VARIOUS BENTHIC SPECIES INCLUDING FUCUS VESICULOSUS (DISSOLVED METALS), SCROBICULARIA PLANA (SEDIMENT - BOUND METALS) AND CERASTODERMA EDULE (PARTICULATE METALS) AS INDICATORS OF CONTAMINATION;

- STUDIES ON THE BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY OF SEDIMENT - BOUND METALS TO DEPOSIT - FEEDING SPECIES AND THE WAY IN WHICH THIS IS GOVERNED BY THE METAL BINDING PROPERTIES AND RELATIVE CONCENTRATIONS OF VARIOUS SEDIMENT COMPONENTS;

- STUDIES ON THE AVAILABILITY OF DISSOLVED METALS IN A FEW ESTUARIES HAVING APPRECIABLE INPUTS TO SEE HOW THIS COMPARES WITH THAT OF SEDIMENT - BOUND METAL SPECIES;

- AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF METALS ON ORGANISMS AT THE MOST HEAVILY CONTAMINATED SITES. THIS INVOLVES FIELD WORK WITH TRANSPLANTED ORGANISMS, INCLUDING THOSE WHICH ARE ELIMINATED BY POLLUTION, AND STUDIES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF METAL TOLERANCE IN SOME OTHER SPECIES;

- LABORATORY STUDIES TO CONFIRM CONCLUSIONS ABOUT BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS DRAWN FROM THE FIELD OBSERVATIONS.

Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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Coordinator

NERC Centre of Coastal and Marine Sciences
EU contribution
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Address
Prospect Place West Hoe
PL1 3DH Plymouth
United Kingdom

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Total cost
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