A Factor Influence Study of Trace Element Bioaccumulation in Moss Bags

• DOI: 10.1007/s00244-007-9127-9
• Publication Date: 2008-01-23T09:28:32Z
• Authors: M. Cesa; B. Campisi; A. Bizzotto; C. Ferraro; F. Fumagalli; P. L. Nimis
• Keywords: water pollution; experimental design; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; heavy metal; Models, Biological; 01 natural sciences; Biomonitoring; heavy metals; Rhynchostegium riparioides; water pollution; experimental design; Bryopsida; 6. Clean water; Rhynchostegium riparioide; Trace Elements; Metals, Heavy; Biomonitoring; Regression Analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Environmental Monitoring; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Moss bags of Rhynchostegium riparioides were exposed to different water concentrations of 11 trace elements under laboratory conditions, according to a saturated fractional factorial design (67 treated combinations), with the aim of measuring (1) element uptake and (2) the main effects and first-order interactions of influent factors. Bioaccumulation was directly proportional to water concentration, but the uptake ratio (ranging from 10(2) to 10(5)) also depended on the concentration of other metals. The highest uptake ratios were observed for Al, Cu, Cr, Hg, and Pb. The multiple regression model showed that interactions among elements exist and induce both antagonism (Fe is the most frequent competitor) and synergism (Cr exerts a great influence on Pb and Zn uptake). Interactions might be relatively strong (as for As, Cr, and Pb) or weak (Cd and Hg). This evidence should be taken into consideration in biomonitoring surveys of industrial sites, where effluents release more than one contaminant.