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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface waters, sediments, and unionid mussels: relation to road crossings and implications for chronic mussel exposure

  • FRESHWATER BIVALVES
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Abstract

Transportation infrastructure is a prominent feature across all landscape types, and road crossings over streams are a source of pollutant influx, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) associated with vehicle oils and fuel combustion. Freshwater mussels (Unionoida) are vulnerable to pollutants entering streams because of their sessile benthic lifestyle and their filter- and deposit-feeding exposure routes. We assessed the effect of road crossings on PAH concentrations in mussels, sediment, and water via passive sampling devices (PSDs) at 20 sites in the upper Neuse River basin of North Carolina, and investigated the utility of PSDs for estimating PAH concentrations in mussels. Road crossings significantly increased Total PAH in downstream reaches compared to upstream for all compartments sampled (P < 0.01). Total PAH in mussels were correlated with those in PSDs both upstream and downstream of road crossings (P ≤ 0.01), and PSDs provided a reliable prediction equation for mussel tissue concentrations of Total PAH (r 2 = 0.90). Overall, PAH contributions from crossings to streams in a single, relatively rural watershed are substantial and statistically significant, suggesting that the cumulative PAH influx within an entire river basin may be considerable and exert adverse effects over a chronic lifetime exposure for mussels, especially as their contributions may amplify downstream.

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Acknowledgements

Funding support was provided by the US Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) through the Center for Transportation and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh through grant no. HWY 2001-13 and through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Grant 5 P42 ES005948. Members of the NCDOT Project Development and Environmental Analysis group provided valuable guidance and advice throughout the study. We especially thank Jay Levine, Chris Eads, and Lori Gustafson of the NC State University, College of Veterinary Medicine for their assistance with project management, site selection, and the collection of mussel samples. We thank Heather Boyette, Leroy Humphries, Chris Wood, April Lee, John Holland, and Shane Hanlon for field and laboratory assistance. The site map and associated land cover data generated for this manuscript were created using ArcGIS® software by ESRI. ArcGIS® and ArcMap™ are the intellectual property of ESRI and are used herein under license. Copyright © ESRI. All rights reserved. For more information about ESRI software, please visit www.esri.com.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7617, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Jennifer M. Archambault, Sharon T. Prochazka & W. Gregory Cope

  2. Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology Laboratory, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Damian Shea & Peter R. Lazaro

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  1. Jennifer M. Archambault
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  2. Sharon T. Prochazka
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  3. W. Gregory Cope
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Correspondence to Jennifer M. Archambault.

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Guest editors: Manuel P. M. Lopes-Lima, Ronaldo G. Sousa, Lyuba E. Burlakova, Alexander Y. Karatayev & Knut Mehler / Ecology and Conservation of Freshwater Bivalves

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Archambault, J.M., Prochazka, S.T., Cope, W.G. et al. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface waters, sediments, and unionid mussels: relation to road crossings and implications for chronic mussel exposure. Hydrobiologia 810, 465–476 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3101-y

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