Abstract
Levels of the heavy metals Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), Iron (Fe) and Manganese (Mn) were determined in coastal water, sediments and soft tissues of the Saccostrea cucullata, from the intertidal zone at five stations in the Gulf of Chabahar on the Iranian coasts along the Oman Sea. The concentrations of heavy metals in seawater ranged between 3.37 to 5.74, 18.01 to 22.62, 4.24 to 4.52, 0.15 to 0.19, 20.16 to 21.46, 16.42 to 17.14, 15.43 to 24.76 µg L-1 and 7.06 to 8.67 µg L-1 for Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Mn and Fe, respectively. The corresponding concentration values in the sediments were 46.79 to 54.76, 40.14 to 43.12, 25.63 to 28.23, 0.53 to 0.63, 47.16 to 51.43, 26.45 to 28.68, 52.13 to 53.46 and 84.42 to 89.14 µg g-1 for Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Fe and Mn, respectively. The highest accumulated metals were Zn, Cu and Mn in, S. cucullata while the lowest one was Cd. The highest concentrations of all metals in seawater, sediments and Oyster were recorded at Tiss harbour eastern parts of the Gulf, while the lowest concentrations were recorded at Damagheh. Based on this research, land based activities; shipping activity and the sewage disposal from vessels and residential area close to these harbors are the main source of metal pollution in the Gulf of Chabahar. Key words: Heavy metals, seawater, sediment, Saccostrea cucullata, Oman Sea, Gulf of Chabahar.
Highlights
Marine pollution is a global environmental problem; human activities in the coastal area and marine water contribute to the discharge of various kinds of pollutants such as heavy metals into the marine ecosystems (Censi et al, 2006; Pote et al, 2008)
This means that anthropogenic contribution to the heavy metal concentrations at the easthern part of the Gulf was clearly noticed in sediments
The results indicated that the accumulation of heavy metals are predominant in sediments rather than of seawater
Summary
Marine pollution is a global environmental problem; human activities in the coastal area and marine water contribute to the discharge of various kinds of pollutants such as heavy metals into the marine ecosystems (Censi et al, 2006; Pote et al, 2008). The main reason for the metal contamination is considered as persistent and due to their toxic properties, could create several problems for different kinds of marine ecosystems and could be accumulating in marine organisms (Wen et al, 2007; Wcislo et al, 2008). Many marine organisms have the potential to bioconcentrate high levels of metals from their environment (Fowler, 1990; Phillips and Rainbow, 1993; Szeffer et al, 1999). The pollution levels of the aquatic environment by heavy metals can be estimated by analysing water, sediments and marine organisms. As a result, biomonitoring process has been widely used to monitoring metals in the last two decades (Zelika et al., 2003; Nicholson and Lam, 2005; Stanly et al, 2008)
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