Heavy Metal Risk Assessment in Bhavanapadu Creek Using Three Potamidid Snails - Telescopium telescopium, Cerithidea obtusa and Cerithidea cingulata

Abstract

The study area experiences the sea water influx during high tide and fresh water during rainfall, flooding season etc. The Creek area is beset mostly with dwarf mangroves on either side, aquaculture ponds, agriculture fields, saltpans etc. The Creek life is influenced by these activities either directly or indirectly throughout the year. It is an almost unexplored area and is represented with diverse fauna and flora. In observation of that, the current investigation was undertaken to study the status of bioaccumulation of heavy metals, specifically Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni and Fe in soft tissues namely, in foot, digestive caecum, total body and operculum and shells of three different species of molluscs namely Telescopium telescopium, Cerithidea obtusa and Cerithidea cingulata using the Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. All the outcomes were expressed in μg/gram of dry weight and the end result reveals reflective amounts of heavy metals, except Cd, Pb and Ni. The statistical analysis of all in vitro studies of heavy metal concentration within and in between the matching organs of all tested species with oneway ANOVA showed significant difference except one. It can be concluded that, although molluscs provide information on the bioavailability of contaminants in ecosystems, it is hardly possible to derive any predictions of biological effects of these pollutants at the given level of exposure; such predictions are the main perspectives of biological effect monitoring.