Natural origin arsenic in aquatic organisms from a deep oligotrophic lake under the influence of volcanic eruptions

Abstract

Volcanic eruptions are recognized sources of toxic elements to freshwater, including arsenic (As). In order to study the short term changes in the bioaccumulation of naturally occurring As by aquatic organisms in Lake Nahuel Huapi (Argentina), located close to the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex (PCCVC), we described As concentrations at different trophic levels and food web transfer patterns in three sites of the lake prior to the last PCCVC eruption (June 2011), and compared As concentrations in biota before and after the eruption. The highest As concentrations and greater variations both between sites and position in the water column, were observed in phytoplankton (3.9-64.8 μg g-1 dry weight, DW) and small zooplankton (4.3-22.3 μg g-1 DW). The pattern of As accumulation in aquatic organisms (whole body or muscle) was: primary producers (phytoplankton) > scrapper mollusks (9.3-15.3 μg g-1 DW) > filter feeding mollusks (5.4-15.6 μg g-1 DW) > omnivorous invertebrates (0.4-9.2 μg g-1 DW) > zooplankton (1.2-3.5 μg g-1 DW) > fish (0.2-1.9 μg g-1 DW). We observed As biodilution in the whole food web, and in salmonids food chains, feeding on fish prey; but biomagnification in the food chain of creole perch, feeding on benthic crayfish. The impact of the 2011 PCCVC eruption on the As levels of biota was more evident in pelagic-associated organisms (zooplankton and planktivorous fish), but only in the short term, suggesting a brief high bioavailability of As in water after ash deposition. In benthic organisms As variations likely responded to shift in diet due to coverage of the littoral zone with ashes.