Biota sediment accumulation and bioconcentration factors of trace metals in the snail Melanoides tuberculata form the agricultural drains of the Manzala Lagoon, Egypt.

Abstract

The freshwater mollusk, Melanoides tuberculata, contains bioconcentration trace metals in its tissues from the surrounding area. M. tuberculata was used as a bioindicator for pollution with seven trace metals (Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) accumulated in snail soft tissues near Bahr El-Baqar and El-Serw agricultural drains of industrial activities in Port Said and Damietta, respectively. The biota sediment accumulation factors (BSAF) in this study reveals that all the soft tissues of the M. tuberculata snails were macro-concentrators with the exception of Ni; it was deconcentrated, and thus provides that the selective tissues as good biomonitors. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) showed the highest concentrations of Fe and Cu in the soft tissues of the M. tuberculata snail, which has the potential to be used as a biomonitoring agent for Fe and Cu contamination of the water.