Stream Monitoring for Heavy Metals by Analysis of Aquatic Insect Larvae by Charles M. Weiss ...

160 Pages·2006·4.26 MB·English

Stream Monitoring for Heavy Metals
by Analysis of Aquatic Insect Larvae
by
Charles M. Weiss
Professor of Environmental Biology
Richard P. Maas
Co-Princi pal Investigator
and
Steven A. Dressing
Research Ass ist ant
Department of Envi ronmental Sciences and Engineering
School of Public Health
The University of North Carol ina a t Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514
The work upon which this publication i s based was supported i n part
by funds provided by the Office of Water Research and Technology,
U. S. Department o f the Interior, Washington, D. C. through the Water
Resources Research Institute of the University of North Carolina as
authorized by the Water Research and Development Act of 1978.
Project No. A-095-NC
I
Agreement No. 14-34-0001 -8035
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~I January 1981 ESE No. 602
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dr. Leonard Smock, while completing his own doctoral research lent
invaluable assistance i n the collection, taxonomy and sample preparation of
the benthic organisms. The assistance of Mr. Charles T. Paige and Richie
Beale i n the determination of anions and cations is gratefully acknowledged
as we1 1 as the continuing helpful suggestions of Dr. Mark Shuman with
reference to the analysis of heavy metals. Mrs. Donna Simmons patiently and
carefully transferred the hand drafts of the manuscript and tables into
final typed form.
DISC LAIMER STATEMENT
Contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views and
policies of the Office of Water Research and Technology, U. S. Department of
the Interior, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products
constitute their endorsement or recommendation for use by the U. S.
Government.

Pb s tract
The potential of aquatic insects for monitoring heavy metals i n North
Carol i na streams and rivers was i nvesti gated. The caddisfly, Hydropsyche
sp. and the midgefly, Chironomus sp., both common i n North Carolina Rivers,
were exposed to a wide range of aqueous cadrni um, chromium and zinc
concentrations under laboratory and fie1 d conditions. The rates of
accumulation and 1o ss of the test metals as well as the equilibrium metal
concentrations i n the test species a t a given metal exposure level were
determined. The effects of other biol ogical a rid chemical factors i ncl uding
water temperature, chemical speciation of the metal s , concentrations of
competing metal s, sediment metal concentrations and organism weight on the
metal accumulation of the organisms were a1 so evaluated.
Chironomus sp. was found to accumulate all three metals to a greater
extent than Hydropsyche sp., although a strong linear relationship was noted
between aqueous and organi sm metal concentrations over the concentration
range used for both organisms. Metal equilibrium between organisms and
water was attained with one to three days i n all cases. Equilibrium
organism metal concentrations increased with increasing water temperature
for a given aqueous metal concentration. The rate of metal release
following transfer of exposed organisms to metal free water was
significantly slower for Hydropsyche sp. This characteristic would i ndi cate
a greater util ity of Hydropsyche sp. for stream metal monitoring. Elevated
organism metal concentrations were observed for 3 to 12 days following
.
exposure depending on organism species and metal exposure level Sediment
and organi sm metal concentrations were posi tively correlated, a1 though
information was limited by the exclusion of sediments from the laboratory
metal exposure systems.
Chemical speciation of cadmium was not observed to significantly affect
organism metal uptake i n these experiments. The presence of potentially
competing metal s were not found to si gni ficanty affect organi sm metal
accumulation except i n one case where the presence of a very high
concentration of Zn reduced Cd and Cr uptake i n both test species. Organi sm
metal concentration was found to decrease with increasing organism weight a t
1o w aqueous metal con.c entrations, however this trend disappeared a t higher
metal exposure 1e ve1 s
The s trony relati onstiip between water and organism metal concentration
and the relatively slow loss of organism bound metal following exposure
i ndicate that organism monitoring of heavy metals i n streams should be a
time and cost effective method of screening North Carolina streams and river
for heavy metal discharges.
iii

Table o f Contents
Page
I
I ..................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
..........................................................
Abstract iii
....................................................
List of Tables v i
...................................................
Li st o f Fi gures v i i i
...........................................
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS x ii
......................................................
INTRODUCTION 1
............................................
Objectives and Scope 5
.............................................
MATERIALS AND METHODS
...............................................
Field Methodology
...........................................
Analytical Procedures
....................................
Laboratory-Fie1 d Experiments
Laboratory Studies on Effects o f Cadmium Speciation on Uptake
.............................................
by Hydropsyche sp
............................................
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
...............................................
Field Collections
....
Laboratory Exposures t o Metals Fol lowed by Stream Desorption
....
Effect of Water Metal Concentration on Oganism Metal Content
..........
Effect of Aquatic Insect Species on Metal Accumulation
............
Effect of Water Temperature on Organism Metal Uptake
.............
Effect of Competing Metals on Organism Metal Uptake
.
Effect of Substrate Metal Concentration on Organism Metal Uptake
.......
Effect of Organism Weight on Organism Metal Concentration
.............
Effect of Metal Speciation on Organism Metal Uptake
.......................................
Kinetics o f Metal Release
.......
A Model Re1 atin g Organism and Stream Metal Concentrations
.........................................
Field Test o f the Model
........................................................
REFERENCES
. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDICES
1. Daily Total and Filtered Cadmium Concentrationsat Stations
No. 6, No. 7, No. 10-Up, No. 10-Down, January 12 t o
................................O.,........
February 10, 1978
2. Daily Total and Fi 1t ered Chromium Concentrations at Stations
No. 6, No. 7, No. 1.0 .-.U.p., ..a.n.d. .N.o.. ..1.0.-D..ow..n,. ..J.a.n.u. .a.r y. .1.2.. t.o .. .....
February 10, 1978
3. Daily Total and Filtered Zinc Concentration a t Stations
No. 6, No. 7, No. 1.0.-.U.p.,. .N..o.. .1.0.-.D.o.w.n., ..J.a..n.u.a.r.y. .1.2. t..o. .........
February 10, 1978
4. Weight Normalized Organism Metal Concentration (vglg) from.. . .
Dai l y Fie1d Collections and Laboratory Aquari a Exposures
. .. . . .
5. Cadmium, Chromium and Zinc (vg/g) of Stream Substrates
.. .. ., .. . . .
6. Total and Dissolved Metals (vgll) of Stream Water
.............................
7. Stream Water Quality Parameters
8. muaria W..a.te.r. .W..a..l.it.y. .P..a.ra.m..e.t.e.rs.,. .M.e.a.n. .V..a.lu.e.s. .D..u.r.in.g. .E.x.p.o.s.u.r.e.
Periods
List of Tables
Page
+
1 Measured Aquaria Metal Concentrations for H dro s che sp. .
Laboratory Experiments Water From Eno River and organ Creek. 13
2 Measured Exposure Aquaria Metal Concentrations for Chironomus
sp .Laborato.r.y. .E..x.p.o.su..re. .E..x.p.e.r.im..e.n.ts.,. .W..a.te.r. .F.r.o.m. .E.l. 1.e .r.b.e.e. .C.r.e.e.k. ..
14
Station 6
. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 Composition of Media in Aquaria 19
4 Cadmium Concentrations i n Total Water and Filtered Water (ug/l )
and Benthic. .M..a.c.r.o.i.n.v.e.r.t.e.b.r.a.te.s. .(.u.g../g.). .S.e.p.t.e.m.b..e.r .1.9.7.7. .t.o. ........
June 1978 21
5 Cadmium in Water and Benthi c M.a.c.r.o.i.n.v.e.r.t.e.b.r.a.te.s. .S.t.a.t.i.o.n. .6.,. .....
May23, 1978toJune20, 1978 24
6 Cadmium i n Water and Benthic M.a .c. r. o. i. n. v. e. r. t. e. b. r. a. te. s. . S. t. a. t. i. o. n. . 7. ,. . . . . .
May 23, 1978 t o June 20, 1978 25
7 Estimation of the C.ad.m..iu.m. .V..a.r.ia.n.c.e. .f.o.r. .W..a.te.r. .a.n.d. .B..e.n.th.i.c. .......
Macroinvertebrates 26
8 Chromium Concentrations in Water an.d . . B. .e . n.t h. o. s. ,. . S. e. p. t. e. m. b. e. r. .1 .9. 7. 7. . . .
to June 1978, A1 1 Sample Stations 30
9 Chromium Concentrations i n W.a.t.e.r .a.n.d. .C..h.ir.o.n.o.m.u.s. .s.p... .M.a.y. .2.3.,. .1.9.7.8
toJune20, 1978, Station6 33
10 Chromium Concentrations i n Water, Stenonema rubrum, 8E h-eme7rel-la,
and Hydropsyche sp., May 23, 1978 t o June 2 0 m , tation 34
11 Estimation of C..hr.o.m.i.u.m. .V..a.ri.a.n.c.e. .f.o.r. .W..a.te.r. .a.n.d. .B.e.n.t.h.i.c .M..a.c.ro.-. ....
invertebrates 35
12 Zinc Concentrations i n Water (ug/1) and .B. .e n t.h. o. s. . (. u. g ./g ).,. . A ll
Stations, September 1977 t o June 1978 39
13 Zinc Concentrations i n Water (u.g ../ l.). . a. n. d. . B. e.n. t. h. o. s. . (. u. g. ./ g. )., . . S. t. a. t. i. o. n. 6
May 23, 1978 t o June 20, 1978 42
14 Zinc Concentrations i n Water (p..g./.l.) .a.n.d. .B..e.n.th.o.s. .(.p.g../g.).,. .S.t.a.t. i.o.n. 7
May23, 1978to June 20, 1978 43
15 Estimation of t.h.e.. Z..in.c. .V..a.r.ia.n.c.e. .f.o..r .W..a.te.r. .a.n.d. .B..e.n.th.i.c. .M..a.cr.o.-. ...
invertebrates
4 5
Table
16 Relationship (corr. coef., r2) of Metal Concentrations in
Hydropsyche sp. and Chironomus sp. to- M etal Co.n.c.e.n.t.r.a.ti.o.n. .i.n..
Water i n a Temperature Range of 22.7 24.g°C 67
17 Mean Values of Metal Concentrations i n Organisms, Water and
Substrate, Morgan- Creek and Eno River. .S.a.m..p.l.e.s., .................
August 1 5, 1979 September 4, 1979 74
18 Correlation of Metal Concentrations i n Organis.m.s. .w.i. t.h.. M..e.ta.l. ....
Concentration i n Stream Water and Substrates 82
19 Metal Concentrations fo.r. R..ep.1. i.c.a..te.. C.h.i. r.o.n.o.m..us. .s.p... .S.a.m..p.l.es. .o.f. ...
DifferentMeanWeights 84
20 Metal Concentrations fo.r. R..e.p.l.i.c.a.te. .H..y.d.ro.p.s.y.c.h.e. .s.p... .S.a.m..p.le.s. .o.f. ..
Different Mean Weights 8 5
21 Mean Values and 95% Confidence Interval of Cadmium i n
%dro s che s p. an.d. .T..o.ta.l. .a.n.d. .F..re.e. .C..ad.m..iu.m. .i.n.. W..a.t.er. .o.f. .........
xposure quaria 90
22 Chemical Speciation of Ca, Cd, Cr. .a.n.d. .Z.n. .i. n. .S.t.r.e.a.m. .a.n.d. .A..q.u.a.r.ia. .
Water Samples by Use of REDEQL2 94
23 Detection Intervals and Metal Release Rate Constants for Meta.l. .
Desorbed from Hydropsyche sp. and Chironomus sp. i n Streams 97
24 Mean, Standard Deviation and 95% Confidence Interval of Organism
Metal Concen.t.r.a.ti.o.n. .f.o..r .a. .G..iv.e.n. .M..e.ta.l. .C..o.n.c.e.n.t.ra..ti.o.n. .a.n.d. ........
Temperature 101
25 Correlation Coefficients for All Experiments, Dissolved Metal and
Organism Metal .C..o.n.c.e.n.tr.a.t.io.n. ,.. T.o.t.a.l .M..e.ta.l. .a.n.d. .O.r.g.an.i. sm. ..M.e.t.a.l ...
Concentration 104
26 Intercepts, Slopes, Correlatio.n. .C..o.e.f.f.i.c.ie.n..ts. .a.n.d. .S.i.g.i.n.i.f.i.c.a.n.c.e. .
Level s of Statistical Models 106
27 Water Quality Parameters from Model Testing E..x.p.e.ri.m..e.n.t .F.o.u..rt.h. ..
Creek, October 23, 1980 to October 30, 1980 108
+
28 Metal Concentrations i n wdro syche sp. and Substrate as Co-l lected
i n Model Testing E..x.p.e.ri.m..en..t ..o.u.r.t.h. .C.r.e.e.k.,. .O.c.t.o.b.e.r. .2.3,. .1.9.8.0. .....
October 30, 1980 109
29 Predicted versus Observed Hydropsyche sp. and Fourth Creek
24-hour Com.p.o.s.i.te. .C.d. .a.n.d. .C.r. .C..o.n.c.e.n.t.r.a.t.io.n..s .f.r.o.m. .M..o.d.el. .T..e.s.ti.n.g.. .
Experiment 110