Reduced Metals Concentrations of Water, Sediment and Hyalella Azteca from Lakes in the Vicinity of the Sudbury Metal Smelters, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Hyalella azteca (Crustacea: Amphipoda), water and sediments from 12 circum-neutral lakes between Sudbury and North Bay in Ontario, Canada were sampled in August 1998 and analyzed for 10 metals including Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni, Pb, Co, Mo, V, Ba and Ti. Statistical analyses showed that concentrations of the metals in H. azteca, water and sediment differed significantly (ANOVA, P < 0.05) among lakes (except for Zn and Pb in H. azteca and Mo in water). There was a trend of declining metal concentration, especially for Cu, Ni and Co (in water, Hyalella and sediment), with distance from the smelters indicating the reduced impact of atmospheric pollution. Metal concentrations of lakes (water) in the Sudbury area were found to be lower compared to data from the 1970s and 1980s indicating an improvement in water quality. Metal concentrations in field-collected amphipods compared favorably with those measured in the laboratory in animals exposed to deep-water sediments, provided metal concentrations were not extremely low (e.g., Pb) and that water chemistry differences (e.g., pH) were taken into account for some metals (especially Cd). In general bioaccumulation of metals in H. azteca was predicted better from surface water than from sediment total metal.

Assessment of physico-chemical parameters of surface water quality of Taudaha lake of Kathmandu and their comparison with other global published values

“…The EC values of the lake water were found to be lower as compared to the maximum permissible levels recommended by WHO (2004) guidelines for drinking water. The mean conductivity values of the lake water were lower than those reported in literature (Table 1) for other lakes [21][22][23]31] except in the case of Tuskegee Lake, USA [30]. Mean TDS, TSS and TS values in the present study were found to be 124.5, 621.4 and 745.8 mg/L respectively.…”

“…It has been reported that the elevated concentrations of Cd can cause nausea, vomiting, salivation and renal failure as well as kidney, liver and blood damages [46]. The concentration of Pb in the understudy lake water was higher than other 8 lakes water samples [23,24,26,27,[29][30][31][32] but significantly lower than those reported in the literature [21,28]. The adverse health effects of lead consist of various cancers, adverse reproductive outcomes, cardiovascular and neurological diseases [47].…”

“…The concentration of toxic elements Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn detected in the lake water were found to be multifold lower than the maximum permissible limits of these elements in drinking water ( Table 3). The level of Cd in the lake water was significantly lower than Manchar lake (Pakistan) [21], Lake Nakuru (Kenya) [22] and Nacharam Lake (India) [29] while higher than the other lakes [23,24,26,27,28,[30][31][32] ( Table 3). It has been reported that the elevated concentrations of Cd can cause nausea, vomiting, salivation and renal failure as well as kidney, liver and blood damages [46].…”

Characteristics of distribution and chemical speciation of heavy metals in environmental mediums around Jinchang mining city, Northwest China

“…Much research has been done in different metal mines and surroundings on the release and accumulation (Yang et al 2006;Shuhaimi-Othman et al 2006), transportation and transformation (Zhu et al 2005), spatial distribution and bioavailability of the heavy metals (Zhang et al 2004;Sun et al 2008), as well as the potential environmental risks of heavy metals (Hu et al 2006;Fan et al 2007). Total heavy metal concentration is an important indicator of pollution risks.…”

Trace Metals Assessment of Groundwater in Parts of Iwo Southwestern Nigeria Using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry and Very Low Frequency Electromagnetic Methods

“…Toxic level of Pb in human body is 500 ppm beyond which it causes anaemia, brain damage and vomiting 16 . Further, Shuhaimi-Othmnan 18 noted that the adverse effects of Pb consist of manifestation of cancers, adverse reproductive outcomes, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. The concentrations of Pb in this study ranged from 0.01-1.0 mg/L with a mean value of 0.01±0.02 mg/L.…”