Vandysh O. Assessment of copper-nickel industry impact on a subarctic lake ecosystem. The Science of the Total Environment. 2003, T. 306, № 1-3, c. 78-83

ELSEVIER The Science of the Total Environment 306 (2003) 73-83 the Science of the Total Environment www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv Assessment of copper-nickel industry impact on a subarctic lake ecosystem Annatoly Lukina,b*, Vladimir Dauvalterb, Nikolay Kashulinb, Valery Yakovlevb, Andrey Sharovb, Oksana Vandyshb aNorthern Water Problems Institute (NWPI), Karelian Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 50, Uritsky St., 185003, Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia bInstitute of North Industrial Ecology Problems (INEP), Kola Science Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, 184200, Apatity, Murmansk region, Russia Received 12 April 2002; accepted 27 September 2002 Abstract The Kuetsjarvi lake ecosystem has been subject to intensive pollution generated by the Pechenganickel Company activities for more than 50 years. This article considers the effects of emissions from the copper-nickel smelter, that uses out-of-date technology, on a subarctic lake ecosystem. Six years of investigations revealed changes occurring at all ecosystem levels. It was found that the content of heavy metals (Cu, Ni, etc.) in lake sediments was dozens of times higher than the background values. Phyto- and zooplankton communities were in an unstable condition, while fish had pathologies of functionally important organs (gill, liver and kidney). The concentration of nickel in zoobenthos and fish was correlated its accumulation in sediments. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Subarctic lake ecosystem; Heavy metals; Phyto- and zooplankton; Zoobenthos; Fish community 1. Introduction One of the oldest metallurgical works in the Kola Peninsula is the Pechenganickel Company, smelters that started operating in 1946. Out-of­ date technologies of metal smelting and obsolete equipment make this enterprise a dangerous pol­ lution source for the environment in the Kola North and northern Norway. This industrial com­ plex causes the emission of aerosols of heavy ^Corresponding author. Tel.: +7-814-254-320; fax: + 7­ 814-2-569-089. E-mail address: lukin@nwpi.karelia.ru (A. Lukin). metals (HM), carbon, nitrogen and sulfur oxides and other harmful substances into the atmosphere. From 200 to 390 ton of sulfur dioxide were annually emitted into the atmosphere between 1973 and 1990 (Baklanov and Makarova, 1992). Priority pollutants among heavy metals are nickel, copper and zinc. Average annual Ni emissions between 1970 and 1990 were 140-440 tons (Bak­ lanov and Makarova, 1992). In 1989 the Ni and Cu emissions into the atmosphere were 504 and 300 ton (Siversten et al., 1991). Wastewaters with high content of polluting substances enter Lake Kuetsjarvi located close to the smelter. Thus, the 0048-9697/03/$ - see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 4 8 -9 6 9 7 (0 2 )0 0 4 8 5 -0