SREL Reprint #2283

Elevated trace element concentrations in southern toads, Bufo terrestris, exposed to coal combustion waste

W. A. Hopkins1,3, M. T. Mendonça1, C. L. Rowe2, and J. D. Congdon3

1Aubum University, Department of Zoology and Wildlife Science, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn, Alabama 36849, USA
2University of Puerto Rico, Department of Biological Sciences, P0 Box 23360, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931
3The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA

Abstract: A number of recent studies have linked developmental, physiological, and behavioral abnormalities in amphibians to coal combustion wastes (coal ash). Few studies, however, have determined trace element concentrations in amphibians exposed to coal ash. In the current study we compare total body concentrations of 20 trace elements in adult southern toads, Bufo terrestris, inhabiting coal ash settling basins with toads that were not exposed to the combustion wastes (reference). In addition, we document the accumulation of trace elements in toads transplanted from reference sites to field enclosures in an ash settling basin for 7 and 12 weeks. Arsenic, selenium, and vanadium levels were significantly elevated in toads captured at the ash-contaminated site in comparison to toads from the reference site. All three of these elements were also significantly elevated in toads exposed to the contaminated habitat for only 7 weeks. Our study suggests that adult anurans can bioaccumulate particularly high levels of selenium and may be useful bioindicators in agricultural and coal ash-impacted habitats.

SREL Reprint #2283

Hopkins, W.A., M.T. Mendonça, C.L. Rowe, and J.D. Congdon. 1998. Elevated trace element concentrations in southern toads, Bufo terrestris, exposed to coal combustion waste. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 35:325-329.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).