Benthic Foraminiferal Tolerance to Tri-n-Butyltin (TBT) Pollution in an Experimental Mesocosm

Tri-n-butyltin (TBT) has been used in the marine environment as a toxic agent in antifouling paints, but unfortunately it also has negative effects on non-target organisms in the environment. In this study, intact coastal sediment was exposed for seven months to three levels of TBT corresponding to nominal additions of 0.00, 0.02 and 2.00 nmol TBT per g dry sediment. This paper presents the first attempt to find out how living benthic foraminifera respond to TBT. Increased foraminiferal abundance in the 0.02 nmol mesocosm could be an effect of decreased predation (competition), since other representatives of meiofauna and macrofauna tended to be less tolerant to TBT. Increasing toxicity in the most contaminated mesocosm group (2.00 nmol) resulted in a less abundant foraminiferal population suggesting that TBT affects the foraminiferal community.