A new bioindicator, shell of Trachycardium lacunosum, and sediment samples to monitors metals (Al, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, V, Co, Cr and Cu) in marine environment: The Persian Gulf as a case

Abstract

BackgroundThe present work was designed to detect heavy metal contents of Al, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, V, Co, Cr and Cu in sediments and shells of the Trachycardium lacunosum collected in polluted and unpolluted areas along the Persian Gulf.MethodsThe samples were taken from surface sediments (0-10 cm) and shells of Trachycardium lacunosum in two separated areas (polluted and unpolluted) in northern part of the Persian Gulf, Asaluyeh Bay, during summer 2013. The prepared samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).ResultsBased on the results, all measured metals including Al, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, V, Co, Cr and Cu were meaningfully higher in the sediment samples of polluted area compared to unpolluted area and the order of metal concentrations in the sediment samples were Cr > Co > V > Ni > Zn > Cu > Fe > Al > Mn in polluted area. In the case of shell samples of Trachycardium lacunosum, polluted area contained significantly higher contents of Al, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, Co, Cr and Cu compared to unpolluted area and the order of metal concentrations in the shell samples were Fe > Zn > Al > Mn > Cu > Cr > Ni > Co in the polluted area.ConclusionIt was concluded that shells of the Trachycardium lacunosum can be used as a suitable bioindicator for heavy metals in the aquatic environment. Results confirmed that due to the possible contaminations by oil and gas activities near the polluted area perennial monitoring and mitigation measures is extremely necessary.

Decay and persistence of empty bivalve shells in a temperate riverine system

“…However, current studies on bivalve shells persistence and importance are few and in most cases have focused in the marine environment (Cadeé, 1999), being the freshwater ecosystems seldom investigated. Additionally, most of the studies regarding shells use were performed in laboratory, in which the shells were used as sensitive tools, to detect chemical contamination of the water due to their capacity to retain different heavy metals over different time periods (Bellotto and Miekeley, 2007;Nuñez et al, 2012;Karbasdehi et al, 2016), and to evaluated the influence of acidification on shell dissolution (Bednaršek et al, 2012;Bausch et al, 2018), whereas field studies are rare (but see Strayer and Malcom, 2007;Ilarri et al, 2015a). Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that the bivalve shell decays vary among species, shell size, water flow and season.…”

“…Previous studies have also showed that bivalve shells can be used as indicator tools to monitor pollution and environmental changes, with the use of shells to detect the presence of several heavy metals in the environment (e.g. Al, Zn, Mn, Ni, Co, Cr and others;Nuñez et al, 2012;Karbasdehi et al, 2016), and also to assess changes in water pH (Marshall et al, 2018). Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms behind the shell decays of different species subjected to different environmental conditions in order to better comprehend the persistence and importance of bivalve shells in the ecosystems.…”

Data on diversity and abundance of zooplanktons along the northern part of the Persian Gulf, Iran

“…The time of water turnover in the basin is between 3 and 5 years and shows that pollutants likely to reside in the Persian Gulf for a significant time [2] , this has caused the north parts of the Persian Gulf to be much more influenced by contaminations [1] . Also, the former studies in the northern part of the Persian Gulf showed that these areas are affected by pollution [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] .

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Lactational Exposure of Human Infants to Metal (loid)s: A Comparison of Industrial and Urban Inhabitants in North of the Persian Gulf

“…The mean concentrations of Cr in a variety of environmental and biological samples from the PGA were measured previously such as sediment (34.2 mg/kg. dry weight) [17]; zooplankton (0.05 µg/g) [26], shell (0.07 µg/g dw) [21], school children's' toenail (0.68 µg/L) [27], and mother and cord blood (7.08 and 6 µg/L, respectively) samples [5]. The nonnatural sources of Cr are coal and petroleum combustion waste from industries and domestics [55] that may in uence the levels of Cr in the PGA.…”

“…In addition to petrochemical and re neries complexes, a variety of other industries are also activating in Asaluyeh area that release a large amount of pollutants such as MLs in the surrounding environment and consequent harmful effects on human health [16]. Previous studies have ever been measured MLs levels in the environmental (sediment, air, street dust, ballast water, land ll leachates, and drinking water) [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] and biological (blood, toenail, sh, bivalve, and zooplankton) [5,6,[26][27][28][29][30][31] samples which have been attributed to the industrial activities in this region. Considering differences in the physiological condition of body among infants and adults, infants are more at health risk because of exposure to the environmental pollutants such as MLs.…”