Contamination by mercury of groundwater of the North Numidian zone of Azzaba, North East Algeria. Effect of inorganic mercury contamination of population

Benhamza, Moussa; Hammar, Yahia

doi:10.1504/ijewm.2012.046397

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Yet, few local-scale studies are available, they provided contrasting results. In an Algerian site, elevated groundwater Hg concentrations have been reported and associated with worrying contamination levels of schoolchildren (Benhamza & Hammar 2012). In Morocco, low concentrations of Hg were found in commercialized fish and cephalopods (Chahid et al 2014) and in humans that regularly consume these animals (Elhamri et al 2007); but relatively high levels were detected in the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Maanan 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-scale geographic patterns of mercury contamination in Morocco revealed by freshwater turtles

Slimani

Hassani

Mouden

et al. 2017

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Mercury (Hg) is a toxic contaminant present in most aquatic ecosystems. High concentrations pose serious threats to organisms and to human health. Because previous studies focused on few countries, environmental hazard due to Hg contamination remains obscure in many geographic areas, and for example limited information is available in North Africa. We examined total Hg contamination in 13 sites in Morocco (12 rivers and one lake) spread over a large area, 400 km north-south and 350 km west-east, that encompasses different biogeographic zones separated by the Atlas Mountains. Due to their longevity and sedentary habits, we used freshwater turtles as biological probes to monitor Hg exposure. Keratinized tissues reflect long-term Hg exposure; thus, we assayed Hg concentration in the claws of > 200 individuals and supplemented these data with blood Hg concentrations of > 60 individuals (a tissue that provides shorter term Hg exposure integration). The results provide the first large-scale picture of Hg contamination in the aquatic freshwater systems of Morocco. Comparisons with previous studies revealed that some of the sites were highly contaminated (e.g. mean Hg concentrations were above 5 μg g, a very high level in keratinized tissues) whereas other sites presented moderate or baseline levels. Unexpectedly, all highly contaminated sites were found in less densely populated areas, while more densely urbanized northern sites, even the sewers of large cities, were not highly contaminated. We hypothesize that silver mining activities in the southern High Atlas and in the Anti-Atlas contaminate rivers of the catchment basins over long distances. These findings indicate that fish, water consumption and contamination levels in local people should be further scrutinized.

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