Ecotoxicological risks from dissolved organic contaminants in a contaminated bay: Combining passive sampling with in vivo bioassays

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Abstract

Innovative and robust methods are needed to evaluate the risks to native aquatic organisms exposed to organic compounds released from contaminated sediments. In the present study, we deployed semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) above sediments in a contaminated harbor at a location in the Laurentian Great Lakes (i.e. Owen Sound Bay) and prepared extracts from these passive samplers for analysis of organic contaminants and for toxicity testing using early life stages of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). The concentrations of several classes of organic contaminants estimated from analysis of the SPMD extracts indicated that several polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) were present in the water column in the inner harbor of Owen Sound Bay at concentrations higher than water quality standards for the protection of aquatic life. Several medaka exposed to the SPMD extract from the inner harbor as well as a positive control compound, benzo[a]pyrene, developed yolk sac edema. However, whitefish did not show the same response. Overall, these data indicate this contamination could contribute to toxicity in sensitive species. The coupling of passive sampling and in vivo bioassays with early life stages of fish shows promise as a method to assess the potential for risks from biologically available fractions of organic contaminants in water. A novel aspect of the present study is the development of a bioassay procedure with early life stages of lake whitefish involving exposures at low temperatures over durations of time that are longer than the bioassays with more conventional model fish species.

Introduction

There are many sites around the world where sediments are contaminated as a result of industrial activity, shipping and urban development, including several Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the Laurentian Great Lakes. AOCs are designated by the US-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement as areas in the Great Lakes where severe environmental degradation has resulted in significant impairment of “beneficial uses”. Evaluation of the environmental risks posed by contaminated sediments is a major challenge, as these risks are dependent on several factors and require multiple lines of evidence (Chapman and Anderson, 2005, Grapentine et al., 2002, Reynoldson et al., 2002). One approach that has been used for risk assessment is to test extracts from sediments, sediment elutriates or from passive samplers deployed in sediments for toxicity using in vitro or in vivo bioassays (Vethaak et al., 2017, Hamers et al., 2010). This approach can also be extended to evaluating the potential toxicity of dissolved organic contaminants by testing extracts from passive samplers deployed in the water column using bioassays (Bergmann et al., 2017, Emelogu et al., 2013). We previously used extracts from passive samplers deployed above contaminated sediments in the Detroit River in the Great Lakes basin to evaluate the potential for the release of toxic organic contaminants from sediments into the dissolved phase and to test for toxicity to early life stages of Japanese medaka, Oryzias latipes (Metcalfe et al., 2000).

As a result of historical inputs from industry, the sediments in the inner harbor of Owen Sound Bay situated on Lake Huron in the province of Ontario, Canada are contaminated with heavy metals and organic pollutants. This harbor is situated within the Traditional Territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation comprised of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and the Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation. The SON people are among the Anishinaabek people of the Great Lakes region. The Territory is the source of SON rights and identity and the basis of SON cultural, spiritual, and economic survival. There is great concern among the SON communities about how this contamination is impacting the many species that live within these waters and, in particular, lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). SON operates one of the largest First Nations fisheries on the Great Lakes and through substantive fishing agreements, holds exclusive use of large areas of both Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. With these concerns the SON-Environment Office (SON-EO) collaborated with us to further investigate the contaminants and better understand the ecotoxiciological risks they might pose to native aquatic species.

In addition to the present contaminants in Owen Sound Bay there has been recent interest in dredging the inner harbor in order to restore commercial navigation by deep draught vessels. This has also elevated the concerns of the SON communities, as this may further mobilize the contaminants. Dillon Consulting (2010) conducted a study of the distribution of contaminants in Owen Sound as a first step in determining the ecological risks of dredging the inner harbor. The report identified polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and some metals (e.g., lead, zinc) as major contaminants in sediments in the inner harbor, but data were incomplete on the concentrations of these contaminants in the water column above the sediments. In a subsequent study, we detected very high concentrations of PAHs and their alkylated homologues (i.e., alkyl-PAHs) throughout sediment cores at depths up to 25 cm, indicating that the harbor is a dynamic system in which there are frequent resuspensions of sediments (Buell et al, 2020a). High molecular weight PAHs have high octanol water coefficients (Kow), resulting in a high affinity for the sediments. However, we anticipated that a proportion of these PAHs will desorb and be transported into the water column above the sediments.

Since there is a spawning shoal for lake whitefish located within 15 km of the contaminated inner harbor of Owen Sound Bay that is important for maintaining the traditional fishery of the First Nations communities in the region (Buell et al., 2020b), we were interested in determining the toxicity of biologically available contaminants present in the water column to early life stages of fish, and in particular, to lake whitefish. To monitor contaminant levels in the water column and assess toxicity, we deployed semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) above the sediments at locations in the inner harbor. Extracts from the SPMDs were subsequently used in bioassays with early life stages of the Japanese medaka and lake whitefish. For assessing the potential for toxicity to an economically and culturally important fish species native to the Great Lakes, a significant part of this project involved developing a bioassay protocol with early life stages of lake whitefish which necessitated prolonged exposures at low temperatures to simulate in the laboratory the natural developmental cycle of this species. The results of this study are discussed with respect to assessing the ecotoxicological risks of organic contaminants released from sediments.

Section snippets

Study sites

Owen Sound Bay is located in Lake Huron on the south shore of the Georgian Bay region (Fig. 1), and the city of Owen Sound is located at the furthest southern extremity of the bay. The inner harbor of the bay has a long history of industrial development dating back to the mid-1800s, including rail yards and bulk petroleum storage. In addition, there was a concentration of industries in the area surrounding the Sydenham River which discharges into the inner harbor, including coal-gasification

Estimated concentrations of contaminants in water

All SPMD field blanks were free of background contamination, except for the presence of trace amounts of naphthalene, which was probably accumulated from boat motor exhaust. Therefore, this compound was excluded from analytical data for the levels of PAHs in SPMDs. However, it is recognized that naphthalene was present in low concentrations in the extracts from SPMDs deployed in both Owen Sound Bay and in Colpoys Bay. Data presented in Table 2 are estimated TWA concentrations for total PCBs,

Conclusions

Elevated concentrations of PAHs and other target organic compounds were detected in SPMDs deployed in the inner harbor of Owen Sound Bay. The application of the toxEval tool for evaluating the contributions of the classes of contaminants to toxicity indicated that PAHs were the class of contaminants of most concern for potential toxicity in organisms exposed in the water column in the inner harbor of Owen Sound Bay. The estimated TWA concentrations of total PAHs at the most contaminated site

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

This study was funded through grants from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) and a Discovery Grant to CDM from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada (#3036-2012). We wish to thank the following people for their help in conducting this study: Doran Ritchie, Kathleen Ryan, Ryan Lauzon, Harold Thompson, Mary Stanish, and Alex Duncan at SON, Tamanna Sultana, Brenda Seaborn, Nicholas Maya and Stephen McGovarin at Trent, and Nargis Ismael at GLIER (University of

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