Abstract
This study highlights the role of seaweed as important indicators of pollutants as they respond immediately to change in water chemistry and have high survival capabilities. Concentration and risk assessment of 13 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as well as 20 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), were examined in the seaweed from El-Mex Bay, Mediterranean Sea during spring and autumn seasons. The green alga Ulva compressa had a maximum ability to accumulate both PAHs and OCPs. In general, the content of the tested micropollutants in the collected seaweed is correlated to their species, morphology, concentration, and nature of pollutant. Naphthalene (NAP) and benzo a pyrene were the predominant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in all species with mean concentrations of 68.57 and 56.14 ng g−1, respectively. The results of the current study showed that the contribution of the different fractions of PAHs from the total concentration was as follows: fossil-fuel derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (∑PAHF; 49.32%) > combustion-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHCOMB; 30.83%) > carcinogenic fractions (PAHCARC; 19.86%). A maximum PAHCARC (30.38%) was recorded in Ulva fasciata. For OCPs, the presence of 1,1-dichloro-2, 2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDD) (ND-27.8 ng g−1) rather than DDT; 1,1,1-trichloro-2, 2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane was an indication for biotransformation involving the reductive dichlorination of DDT to more recalcitrant and toxic DDD. Endrin ketone has the highest mean hazard quotient (0.376). The cancer risk values of most PAHs and OCPs were in the range from 10−4 to 10−3 recommending precautionary measures. The results explained that the present algal species play a vital role in the uptake of organic pollutants and act as biomarkers for micropollutants in the ecosystem.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-18634-z.
Highlights
Marine ecosystems receive fluxes of organic and inorganic pollutants originating from natural and/or anthropogenic sources (Mohamed et al 2016; Said et al 2017; El Zokm et al 2020a, b, c)
Environmental Science and Pollution Research has to do with their carcinogenicity and non-biodegradable (Sun et al 2020); these compounds enter the cell as a result of their hydrophobic characteristics and prompt the expression of the genes encoding for members of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme group, which in turn activate Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to highly reactive diol-epoxides that combine with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and become carcinogenic (Shimada and Fujii-Kuriyama 2004)
The aim of the present study was to detect the variation in the ability of seven seaweed species that grow in El-Mex Bay to uptake 13 PAHs and 20 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), focusing on combining relationship indices, human risk indices, and carcinogenic risk assessment
Summary
Marine ecosystems receive fluxes of organic and inorganic pollutants originating from natural and/or anthropogenic sources (Mohamed et al 2016; Said et al 2017; El Zokm et al 2020a, b, c). Environmental Science and Pollution Research has to do with their carcinogenicity and non-biodegradable (Sun et al 2020); these compounds enter the cell as a result of their hydrophobic characteristics and prompt the expression of the genes encoding for members of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme group, which in turn activate PAHs to highly reactive diol-epoxides that combine with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and become carcinogenic (Shimada and Fujii-Kuriyama 2004). LMW PAHs are acutely toxic but non-carcinogenic to most aquatic organisms; HMW PAHs are both carcinogenic and mutagenic (Karlsson and Viklander 2008). The International Agency for Research on Cancer named three PAHs as being probably carcinogenic (group 2A): dibenz[a,h]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), and benzo[a]anthracene (BaA) (Jacob 2008; Rengarajan et al 2015). The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defined sixteen PAHs as seniority pollutants (Almatari et al 2017)
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