title: Metal fate and effects in estuaries: A review and conceptual model for better understanding of toxicity.
abstract: Metal pollution is a global problem in estuaries due to the legacy of historic contamination and currently increasing metal emissions. However, the establishment of water and sediment standards or management actions in brackish systems has been difficult because of the inherent transdisciplinary nature of estuarine processes. According to the European Commission, integrative comprehension of fate and effects of contaminants in different compartments of these transitional environments (estuarine sediment, water, biota) is still required to better establish, assess and monitor the good ecological status targeted by the Water Framework Directive. Thus, the present study proposes a holistic overview and conceptual model for the environmental fate of metals and their toxicity effects on aquatic organisms in estuaries. This includes the analysis and integration of biogeochemical processes and parameters, metal chemistry and organism physiology. Sources of particulate and dissolved metal, hydrodynamics, water chemistry, and mechanisms of toxicity are discussed jointly in a multidisciplinary manner. It is also hypothesized how these different drivers of metal behaviour might interact and affect metal concentrations in diverse media, and the knowledge gaps and remaining research challenges are pointed. Ultimately,estuarine physicochemical gradients, biogeochemical processes, and organism physiology are jointly coordinating the fate and potential effects of metals in estuaries, and both realistic model approaches and attempts.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany; Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Altensteinstraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany; School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4N, UK. Electronic address: machado@igb-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Anderson Abel
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: de Souza Machado
authors.affiliation: School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4N, UK.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences I, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kloas
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toffolon
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany; Center for Applied Geosciences, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Hölderlinstr 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zarfl
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D063366:Estuaries; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D008956:Models, Chemical; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Biogeochemistry; Estuarine processes; Metal fate; Metal toxicity; Organism physiology