Sandimirov S. Heavy metal contents in whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) along a pollution gradient in a subarctic watercourse. Environ. Monit. Assess. 2011, V. 182, №1-4, p. 301-316.

306 Environ Monit Assess (2011) 182:301-316 Results Metal concentrations in water and sediments The concentrations of Ni and Cu in water and surficial sediments steeply declined from very high levels in Kuetsjarvi near the smelters to intermediate to moderate levels in the down­ stream Skrukkebukta and to moderate levels in Vaggatem, Rajakoski and Lake Inari upstream in the watercourse (Table 2a and b). Similar, but less extensive trends were seen for Cd and Zn in surficial sediments. The Hg and Pb concentrations were low both in water and surficial sediments with no distinct spatial patterns. The contamina­ tion factor of each element revealed a similar spa­ tial development as the metal contents in surficial sediments, with a steeply declining trend for Ni and Cu, a distinct but less extensive declining trend for Cd and Zn and no particular pattern for Pb and Hg (Table 2b). Metal concentrations in fish The two whitefish morphs exhibited a similar pat­ tern of heavy metal concentrations in different tissues along the gradient of investigated lake lo­ calities (Figs. 2 and 3; Supplementary Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). Hg was the only metal where significant differences between the morphs were observed in all the investigated tissues (LME, P < 0.001), and the concentrations also increased with age (LME, P < 0.01 for liver, kidney and muscle). The concentrations of Cu in muscle and Pb in muscle and liver were significantly higher in SR whitefish than in DR whitefish, whereas the Zn concentrations in liver and kidney were significantly higher in DR whitefish (LME, P < 0.001). Otherwise, no significant differences were found between the morphs (LME, P > 0.05). For Ni, Cu, Cd, Zn and Pb, no positive size nor posi­ tive age dependence was observed. Negative age dependence was in contrast observed across all tissues for Pb, and for Ni in liver and Cu and Cd in muscle. For Zn in muscle and kidney negative size and age dependence was observed (LME, P < 0.041). With the exception of Zn and Hg, there was generally a distinct reduction in metal concen­ trations with increasing distance to the smelters, from high levels in Kuetsjarvi close to the smelters towards low levels in downstream Skrukkebukta at 16 km distance and the upstream localities at >40 km distance to the smelters (see Figs. 2 and 3 and Online Supplementary Materials). For Ni, this pattern of rapidly decreasing concen­ trations was consistent and significant for both morphs in all four examined tissues (Fig. 2a; Kruskal-Wallis tests, P < 0.01). For Cu and Cd, the similar pattern was evident for both morphs Table 2 Metal concentrations in (a) water (average in brackets) in the studied lake localities in the Inari-Pasvik with minimum and maximum values in brackets) and watercourse (sample sizes are given in brackets after the (b) surficial sediment layer (the contamination factor, Cf, names of the lakes) Lake Ni Cu Cd Zn Pb Hg (a) Water (|J.g/l) Kuetsjarvi (n = 90) 116 (74-182) 9.6 (6.3-18.1) 0.07 (0-0.28) 4.1 (1.3-19) 0.23 (0-1.03) < 0.01 Skrukkebukta (n = 12) 9.0 (6.3-13.8) 2.4 (1.6-3.5) 0.05 (0-0.09) 5.1 (0.6-28) 0.27 ( 0 - 0 . 73 ) < 0.01 Vaggatem (n = 8) 2.1 ( 0 . 3 - 15 . 2 ) 1.7 (0.7-5.4) 0.05 (0-0.22) 3.5 (0.1-50) 0.37 ( 0 - 1 . 10 ) < 0.01 Rajakoski (n = 6) 1.6 (0.8-2.5) 1.8 (0.4-4.3) 0.14 (0.06-0.26) 2.2 (0.5-4.9) 0.18 ( 0 . 10 - 0 . 28 ) < 0.01 Lake Inari (n = 5) 1.1 (0.5-2.3) 0.7 (0.5-1.1) 0.10 ( 0 . 05 - 0 . 29 ) 2.3 (0.6-5.8) 0.19 (0.09-0.34) < 0.01 (b) Sediment (|J.g/g dw) Kuetsjarvi (n = 63) 2,839.0 (62.2) 1,214.8 (26.2) 2.47 (16.8) 253.8 (2.4) 38.7 (4.8) 0.16 (5.1) Skrukkebukta (n = 10) 280.0 (4.4) 169.0 (2.9) 0.27 ( 3 . 0 ) 127.0 ( 1 . 0 ) 26.8 (1.9) 0.02 (0.8) Vaggatem (n = 15) 79.0 (1.5) 71.0 (1.4) 0.13 (1.4) 109.0 ( 1 . 0 ) 15.6 (1.7) 0.10 (2.8) Rajakoski (n = 10) 37.0 ( 0 . 8 ) 32.0 ( 0 . 9 ) 0.18 ( 3 . 9 ) 81.0 (0.8) 8.8 (1.3) 0.14 (6.8) Lake Inari (n = 22) 51.0 ( 0 . 9 ) 37.0 ( 0 . 8 ) 0.47 ( 3 . 6 ) 104.0 ( 1 . 0 ) 23.7 ( 5 . 0 ) 0.09 (2.5) Springer