Cadmium in the aquatic environment: a review of ecological, physiological, and toxicological effects on biota

Cadmium is a nonessential element that can be toxic and carcinogenic. On a global scale, the ratio anthropogenic to natural emissions of cadmium is approximately 7:1. Sources of cadmium for freshwater and salt water include atmospheric deposition, direct and via runoff, as well as direct discharges into water or watersheds. Thirty percent of the atmospheric emissions fall onto water. In freshwater, the cadmium ion is the predominant dissolved form, while in seawater, chloride dominates. Much of the cadmium added to aquatic systems accumulates in sediments where it presents a risk to benthic biota and under certain conditions may reenter the water column. The cadmium ion is the most bioavailable to aquatic biota; factors affecting availability include salinity, dissolved organic matter, and hydrogen ion concentration, which affect the chemical forms of cadmium. Hydrogen and other ions, most notably calcium, also affect cadmium uptake and toxicity, through competition and physiological effects. The concentrations of cadmium that result in acute or chronic toxicity vary over several orders of magnitude, with certain freshwater fish and invertebrates being the most sensitive. Long-term field experiments and chronic toxicity tests on invertebrates suggest that the present Canadian guideline of 200 ng Cd∙L −1 for the protection of freshwater biota may be too high. Aquatic animals and plants, like most organisms, produce metal binding proteins, called metallothioneins, in response to cadmium. Some species or varieties within a species of aquatic biota are tolerant to cadmium. The relationship between cadmium tolerance and metallothionein is still incompletely resolved.Key words: cadmium, seawater, freshwater, availability, toxicity, metallothionein, tolerance, food chain.