Extreme Arsenic Bioaccumulation Factor Variability in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia.

ABSTRACT: Latin America, like other areas in the world, is faced with the problem of high arsenic (As) background in surface and groundwater, with impacts on human health. We studied As biogeochemical cycling by periphyton in Lake Titicaca and the mine-impacted Lake Uru Uru. As concentration was measured in water, sediment, totora plants (Schoenoplectus californicus) and periphyton growing on stems, and As speciation was determined by X-ray absorption spectroscopy in bulk and EDTA-extracted periphyton. Dissolved arsenic was between 5.0 and 15 μg L^-1 in Lake Titicaca and reached 78.5 μg L^-1 in Lake Uru Uru. As accumulation in periphyton was highly variable. We report the highest As bioaccumulation factors ever measured (BAFs_periphyton up to 245,000) in one zone of Lak

SUBMITTER: Sarret G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6650431 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature