Trace metal transfer to passerines inhabiting wastewater treatment wetlands

Courtney S Werner; Mary Chapman; Jonathon Skaggs; Olin E Rhodes Jr; Travis L DeVault

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172373

Trace metal transfer to passerines inhabiting wastewater treatment wetlands

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jun 1:927:172373. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172373. Epub 2024 Apr 9.

Authors

Courtney S Werner¹, Mary Chapman², Jonathon Skaggs², Olin E Rhodes Jr³, Travis L DeVault⁴

Affiliations

¹ Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E Green St, Athens, GA 30602, USA. Electronic address: courtney.werner25@uga.edu.
² Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA.
³ Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA; Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, 140 E Green St, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
⁴ Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E Green St, Athens, GA 30602, USA.

PMID: 38604356
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172373

Abstract

Wastewater treatment wetlands are cost-effective strategies for remediating trace metals in industrial effluent. However, biogeochemical exchange between wastewater treatment wetlands and adjacent environments provides opportunities for trace metals to cycle in surrounding ecosystems. The transfer of trace metals to wildlife inhabiting treatment wetlands must be considered when evaluating wetland success. Using passerine birds as bioindicators, we conducted a multi-tissue analysis to investigate the mobilization of zinc, copper, and lead derived from wastewater to terrestrial wildlife in treatment wetlands and surrounding habitat. In addition, we evaluate the strength of relationships between metal concentrations in non-lethal (blood and feathers) and lethal (muscle and liver) sample types for estimation of toxicity risk. From July 2020 to August 2021, 177 passerines of seven species were captured at two wetlands constructed to treat industrial wastewater and two reference wetlands in the coastal plain of South Carolina. Feather, blood, liver, and muscle samples from each bird were analyzed for fourteen metals using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and direct mercury analysis. Passerines inhabiting wastewater treatment wetlands accumulated higher concentrations of zinc in liver, copper in blood, and lead in feathers than passerines in reference wetlands, but neither blood nor feather concentrations were correlated with internal tissue concentrations. Of all the detected metals, only mercury in the blood showed a strong predictive relationship with mercury in internal tissues. This study indicates that trace metals derived from wastewater are bioavailable and exported to terrestrial wildlife and that passerine biomonitoring is a valuable tool for assessing metal transfer from treatment wetlands. Regular blood sampling can reveal proximate trace metal exposure but cannot predict internal body burdens for most metals.

Keywords: Copper; Ecotoxicology; Lead; Remediation; Songbird; Zinc.

MeSH terms

Animals
Environmental Monitoring*
Metals / analysis
Passeriformes / metabolism
Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods
Wastewater* / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / metabolism
Wetlands*

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical
Wastewater
Metals