Environmental characteristics of a tundra river system in Svalbard. Part 2: Chemical stress factors

Klaudia Kosek; Krystyna Kozioł; Aneta Luczkiewicz; Katarzyna Jankowska; Stanisław Chmiel; Żaneta Polkowska

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.012

Environmental characteristics of a tundra river system in Svalbard. Part 2: Chemical stress factors

Sci Total Environ. 2019 Feb 25:653:1585-1596. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.012. Epub 2018 Nov 4.

Authors

Klaudia Kosek¹, Krystyna Kozioł², Aneta Luczkiewicz³, Katarzyna Jankowska³, Stanisław Chmiel⁴, Żaneta Polkowska⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 Narutowicza St., Gdansk 80-233, Poland.
² Institute of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Biology, Pedagogical University in Cracow, Podchorążych 2, Cracow 30-084, Poland; Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 64 Księcia Janusza St., Warsaw 01-452, Poland.
³ Department of Water and Waste-Water Technology, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 Narutowicza St., Gdansk 80-233, Poland.
⁴ Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, 2 C-D Kraśnicka Ave., Lublin 20-718, Poland.
⁵ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 Narutowicza St., Gdansk 80-233, Poland. Electronic address: zanpolko@pg.edu.pl.

PMID: 30446169
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.012

Abstract

Bacterial communities in the Arctic environment are subject to multiple stress factors, including contaminants, although typically their concentrations are small. The Arctic contamination research has focused on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) because they are bioaccumulative, resistant to degradation and toxic for all organisms. Pollutants have entered the Arctic predominantly by atmospheric and oceanic long-range transport, and this was facilitated by their volatile or semi-volatile properties, while their chemical stability extended their lifetimes following emission. Chemicals present in the Arctic at detectable and quantifiable concentrations testify to their global impact. Chemical contamination may induce serious disorders in the integrity of polar ecosystems influencing the growth of bacterial communities. In this study, the abundance and the types of bacteria in the Arctic freshwater were examined and the microbial characteristics were compared to the amount of potentially harmful chemical compounds in particular elements of the Arctic catchment. The highest concentrations of all determined PAHs were observed in two samples in the vicinity of the estuary both in June and September 2016 and were 1964 ng L^-1 (R12) and 3901 ng L^-1 (R13) in June, and 2179 ng L^-1 (R12) and 1349 ng L^-1 (R13) in September. Remarkable concentrations of the sum of phenols and formaldehyde were detected also at the outflow of the Revelva river into the sea (R12) and were 0.24 mg L^-1 in June and 0.35 mg L^-1 in September 2016. The elevated concentrations of chemical compounds near the estuary suggest a potential impact of the water from the lower tributaries (including the glacier-fed stream measured at R13) or the sea currents and the sea aerosol as pollutant sources. The POPs' degradation at low temperature is not well understood but bacteria capable to degrading such compounds were noted in each sampling point.

Keywords: Arctic; Bacterial abundance; Bacterial diversity; Environmental changes; Freshwater contamination; POPs.

MeSH terms

Bacteria / classification
Bacteria / drug effects*
Environmental Monitoring*
Formaldehyde / analysis
Metagenomics
Metals / analysis
Microbiota / drug effects*
Phenols / analysis
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / analysis
Rivers / chemistry*
Rivers / microbiology*
Svalbard
Tundra
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Metals
Phenols
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Formaldehyde