Metal Concentration in Oyster, Crassostrea Gigas, and Sediment in Ann-Ping Mariculture Ground, Taiwan

Abstract

This study was to assess the metal contamination in oyster tissue grown in the Ann-ping mariculture ground in Taiwan. the information generated from this work also revealed general metal pollution problem for Taiwan's oyster farmers. Oysters, Crassostrea gigas, and surficial sediments collected from ten locations in Ann-ping mariculture ground in Taiwan for metals concentration (Cu, Zn, Pd, Cd, Fe and Mn) were performed. Analytical results indicated that the yearly averaged oyster copper concentrations (μg g−1, wet weight) in oyster soft parts from Ann-ping increased from 21.3±4.1 in 1993; 24.1±6.8 in 1994; 36.8±11.9 in 1995 to 43.9±23.1 μg g−1, wet weight, in the 1996 raising season. the mean oyster copper concentration reached a level of 50 μg g−1, wet weight, in December 1996. This increasing trend of metal concentration in oyster tissue indicates a potential pollution source which may pose a potential disaster as green oyster incidence, which occurred on the Charting coast in 1986, in Taiwan. Sediment samples in Ann-ping mariculture ground were also collected and examined. the seasonal variation of the copper concentration in surficial sediment from Ann-ping did not show an increasing trend as observed in oyster tissue.