Responses of wild small mammals to arsenic pollution at a partially remediated mining site in Southern France.

• Published in: Science of The Total Environment
• Main Authors: Drouhot, Séverine, Raoul, Francis, Crini, Nadia, Tougard, Christelle, Prudent, Anne-Sophie, Druart, Coline, Rieffel, Dominique, Lambert, Jean-Claude, Tête, Nicolas, Giraudoux, Patrick, Scheifler, Renaud
• Other Authors: Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249) (LCE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Regional Council of Franche-Comte (BDI PhD studentship); Agence De l'Environnement et de la Maitrise de l'Energie (ADEME, Salsigne programme) 0872C0067
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Wildlife; Small mammals; Oral exposure; Body condition index; Somatic indices; [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology; Common vole; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00926054; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.053

International audience Partial remediation actions at a former gold mine in Southern France led to a mosaic of contaminated and rehabilitated zones. In this study, the distribution of arsenic and its potential adverse effects on small mammals were investigated. The effectiveness of remediation for reducing the transfer of this element into wildlife was also discussed. Arsenic levels were measured in the soil and in the stomach contents, livers, kidneys, and lungs of four small mammal species (the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), the Algerian mouse (Mus spretus), the common vole (Microtus arvalis), and the greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula)). The animals were caught at the former extraction site, in zones with three different levels of remediation treatments, and at a control site. Arsenic concentrations in the soil were highly spatially heterogeneous (ranging from 29 to 18,900 mu g g(-1)). Despite the decrease in arsenic concentrations in the remediated soils, both wood mice and Algerian mice experienced higher oral exposure to arsenic in remediated zones than in the control area. The accumulated arsenic in their organs showed higher intra-zonal variability than the arsenic distribution in the soil, suggesting that, in addition to remediation processes, other variables can help explain arsenic transfer to wildlife, such as the habitat and diet preferences of the animals or their mobility. A weak but significant correlation between arsenic concentration and body condition was observed, and weak relationships between the liver/kidney/lung mass and arsenic levels were also detected, suggesting possible histological alterations.