Element concentrations, histology and serum biochemistry of arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and shorthorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius) in northwest Greenland

Rasmus Dyrmose Nørregaard; Lis Bach; Ole Geertz-Hansen; Jacob Nabe-Nielsen; Barbara Nowak; Khattapan Jantawongsri; Mai Dang; Jens Søndergaard; Pall S Leifsson; Bjørn M Jenssen; Tomasz M Ciesielski; Augustine Arukwe; Christian Sonne

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.112742

Element concentrations, histology and serum biochemistry of arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and shorthorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius) in northwest Greenland

Environ Res. 2022 May 15:208:112742. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112742. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Aarhus University, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Ecoscience, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark; Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Department of Environment and Mineral Resources, 3900, Nuuk, Greenland; Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark. Electronic address: rasmusnorregaard@gmail.com.
² Aarhus University, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Ecoscience, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark; Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark. Electronic address: lb@ecos.au.dk.
³ Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Department of Environment and Mineral Resources, 3900, Nuuk, Greenland.
⁴ Aarhus University, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Ecoscience, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark; Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
⁵ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Newnham, Tasmania, 7248, Australia; Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
⁶ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Newnham, Tasmania, 7248, Australia.
⁷ University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
⁸ Aarhus University, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Ecoscience, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark; Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Biology, Høgskoleringen 5, Trondheim, Norway.
⁹ Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Biology, Høgskoleringen 5, Trondheim, Norway.
¹⁰ Aarhus University, Faculty of Technical Science, Department of Ecoscience, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark; Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark; Henan Province Engineering Research Center for Biomass Value-added Products, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China. Electronic address: cs@ecos.au.dk.

PMID: 35065927
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112742

Abstract

The increasing exploratory efforts in the Greenland mineral industry, and in particular, the proposed rare earth element (REE) mining projects, requires an urgent need to generate data on baseline REE concentrations and their potential environmental impacts. Herein, we have investigated REE concentrations in anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and shorthorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius) from uncontaminated sites in Northwest Greenland, along with the relationships between the element concentrations in gills and liver, and gill histology and serum biochemical parameters. Concentrations of arsenic, silver, cadmium, cerium, chromium, copper, dysprosium, mercury, lanthanum, neodymium, lead, selenium, yttrium, and zinc in gills, liver and muscle are presented. No significant statistical correlations were observed between element concentrations in different organs and gill histology or serum biochemical parameters. However, we observed positive relationships between age and histopathology, emphasizing the importance of including age as a co-variable in histological studies of fish. Despite no element-induced effects were observed, this study is considered an important baseline study, which can be used as a reference for the assessment of impacts of potential future REE mine sites in Greenland.

Keywords: Arctic char; Biochemistry; Elements; Greenland; Histology; Serum; Shorthorn sculpin.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Environmental Monitoring*
Greenland
Mining
Perciformes*
Trout