Biological availability of traffic-related platinum-group elements (palladium, platinum, and rhodium) and other metals to the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in water containing road dust.

The uptake and bioaccumulation of 15 road dust metals by the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) were investigated in laboratory exposure studies with emphasis on the traffic-related platinum-group elements (PGEs) palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and rhodium (Rh). The biological availability of the metals may depend on water characteristics, so the mussels were maintained in two types of water: nonchlorinated tap water and humic water of a bog lake, both of which contained dust of a moderately frequented road. After an exposure period of 26 weeks, soft tissues of the mussels were freeze-dried and analyzed for the metals. The metal concentrations in the mussel soft tissue ranged from several hundred micrograms per gram (e.g., for iron [Fe]) to less than 10 ng/g (for PGEs). Metal uptake from the road dust by the mussels was found for the PGEs and silver (Ag), bismuth (Bi), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), Fe, lead (Pb), and antimony (Sb). After maintenance of mussels in road dust-contaminated tap water, bioaccumulation factors (BAF = (C(exposed mussels) - C(control mussels))/C(total metal, water), where c is concentration) decreased in the following order: Cu > Cd > Ag > Pd > Sb > Pb > Fe > Pt > Rh. The biological availability of most metals was enhanced by humic water as compared to tap water. Our results show a hitherto unrecognized high availability of Pd for the mussels. Thus, this metal should be monitored more intensively in the environment to assess its distribution in the biosphere.