Seawater carbonate chemistry and the Gd bioaccumulation and oxidative stress-related responses of the surf clam Spisula solida

• Main Authors: Figueiredo, Catia, Grilo, Tiago F, Oliveira, Rui, Ferreira, Ines Joao, Lopes, C, Brito, Pedro, Ré, P, Caetano, Miguel, Diniz, Mário, Raimundo, Joana
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2022
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (<20 L); Cadmium; error; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Catalase activity; per protein mass; Coast and continental shelf; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Glutathione S-transferase; activity per protein mass; Heat shock protein; Individuals; Inorganic toxins; Laboratory experiment; Lipid peroxidation; per protein; Mollusca; North Atlantic; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Other metabolic rates; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.950895; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.950895

Humans have exhaustively combusted fossil fuels, and released pollutants into the environment, at continuously faster rates resulting in global average temperature increase and seawater pH decrease. Climate change is forecasted to exacerbate the effects of pollutants such as the emergent rare earth elements. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the combined effects of rising temperature (delta = + 4 °C) and decreasing pH (delta = − 0.4 pH units) on the bioaccumulation and elimination of gadolinium (Gd) in the bioindicator bivalve species Spisula solida (Surf clam). We exposed surf clams to 10 µg/L of GdCl3 for seven days, under warming, acidification, and their combination, followed by a depuration phase lasting for another 7 days and investigated the Gd bioaccumulation and oxidative stress-related responses after 1, 3 and 7 days of exposure and the elimination phase. Gadolinium accumulated after just one day with values reaching the highest after 7 days. Gadolinium was not eliminated after 7 days, and elimination is further hampered under climate change scenarios. Warming and acidification, and their interaction did not significantly impact Gd concentration. However, there was a significant interaction on clam's biochemical response. The augmented total antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation values show that the significant impacts of Gd on the oxidative stress response are enhanced under warming while the increased superoxide dismutase and catalase values demonstrate the combined impact of Gd, warming & acidification. Ultimately, lipid damage was greater in clams exposed to warming & Gd, which emphasizes the enhanced toxic effects of Gd in a changing ocean.