Investigation of Global Trends of Pollutants in Marine Ecosystems around Barrang Caddi Island, Spermonde Archipelago Cluster: An Ecological Approach

Abstract

High-quality marine ecosystems are free from global trending pollutants’ (GTP) contaminants. Accuracy and caution are needed during the exploitation of marine resources during marine tourism to prevent future ecological hazards that cause chain effects on aquatic ecosystems and humans. This article identifies exposure to GTP: microplastic (MP); polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH); pesticide residue (PR); heavy metal (HM); and medical waste (MW), in marine ecosystems in the marine tourism area (MTA) area and Barrang Caddi Island (BCI) waters. A combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis methods were used with analytical instruments and mathematical formulas. The search results show the average total abundance of MPs in seawater (5.47 units/m3) and fish samples (7.03 units/m3), as well as in the sediment and sponge samples (8.18 units/m3) and (8.32 units/m3). Based on an analysis of the polymer structure, it was identified that the dominant light group was MPs: polyethylene (PE); polypropylene (PP); polystyrene (PS); followed by polyamide-nylon (PA); and polycarbonate (PC). Several PAH pollutants were identified in the samples. In particular, naphthalene (NL) types were the most common pollutants in all of the samples, followed by pyrene (PN), and azulene (AZ). Pb+2 and Cu+2 pollutants around BCI were successfully calculated, showing average concentrations in seawater of 0.164 ± 0.0002 mg/L and 0.293 ± 0.0007 mg/L, respectively, while in fish, the concentrations were 1.811 ± 0.0002 µg/g and 4.372 ± 0.0003 µg/g, respectively. Based on these findings, the BCI area is not recommended as a marine tourism destination.

Potential Utilization of Bacterial Consortium of Symbionts Marine Sponges in Removing Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metals, Review

“…Global trending pollutant (GTP) is a term applied to several types of pollutant materials (heavy metals, aromatic hydrocarbons, microplastics, medical waste, and pesticide residues) that pose many complex problems to the global environment [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The problem of environmental quality is especially felt by developing countries [3,8].…”

“…The issue of GTP in this decade has been very much discussed, not only by environmental observers and activists, as well as scientists in the field of environmental management, but also by several world leaders who have voiced the need for real action in reducing fossil fuel consumption [9][10][11]. The global policy of reducing carbon consumption is a tangible manifestation of the emergency of environmental quality [7,12]. It is very reasonable because the rate of increase in global trends of pollutants is increasing massively, far beyond the natural recovery ability of nature to reduce these pollutants [13][14][15].…”

“…It is very reasonable because the rate of increase in global trends of pollutants is increasing massively, far beyond the natural recovery ability of nature to reduce these pollutants [13][14][15]. Reducing carbon in the environment is not enough because various types of GTP and their adverse environmental effects are also different [7,16].…”

“…This is because the topography of the area is generally low. Almost all types of GTP contaminants are found in particulates and residues and can be dissolved in air, soil and water bodies [4,7]. These materials eventually empty into the aquatic environments of rivers, lakes, swamps and the sea [18,19].…”

“…In the aquatic environment, especially in marine ecosystems, there are several types of biota, such as sponges, which are known to be often used as objects for the biomonitoring of the pollution of hydrocarbon components and heavy metals; some types of sponges are even used as references or bioindicators in analyzing the levels of PAHs and heavy metal contaminants [54,55]. In addition to biomonitoring and acting as bioindicators of this type of GTP contamination, it is known that this sponge can perform the degradation of hydrocarbon components and the biosorption of heavy metals [7,[56][57][58]. This is based on research results that show the ability of sponges to live and thrive in an environment contaminated with GTP pollutants [7,59].…”