Heavy metals in the aquatic environment of the Southern Adriatic Sea, Italy: Macroalgae, sediments and benthic species
Section snippets
Indroduction
Urban and industrial activities introduce large amounts of pollutants into the marine environment, causing significant and permanent disturbances in marine systems and, consequently, environmental and ecological degradation. This phenomenon is especially significant in the coastal zones that are the main sinks of almost all anthropogenic discharges of pollutants. It has long been recognised that metals in the marine environment have a particular significance in the ecotoxicology, since they are
Materials and methods
Samples of sea urchins (P. lividus), holothurians (H. polii), green algae (Ulva lactuca, Codium vermilara and Enteromorpha prolifera) and sediments were collected in nine stations along the Apulian coast (South Adriatic Sea, Italy) (Fig. 1) in April 1998. Sea urchins, holothurians and seaweeds were caught by scuba diving. After collection, the samples were placed in polythene bags and transported to the laboratory in icebox. Seaweed samples were initially washed under a jet of tap water, then
Results and discussions
Metal concentrations determined in the different species of macroalgae and in gonads of P. lividus from all sampling stations are given in Table 2. As regards macroalgae, among essential elements, metal concentrations were in the order Fe>Zn>Cu. The mean concentrations of Fe, Zn and Cu varied from 337.10 to 553.01, 58.79 to 127.27 and 10.33 to 12.07 μg g−1 dry wt., respectively. No significant differences of concentration were detected in the three species of algae examined (ANOVA test, Table 2
Uncited references
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2020, Marine Pollution BulletinCitation Excerpt :The concentrations of Cd measured in C. nodosa leaves fell within the range of most studies conducted in the Mediterranean Sea (Table 4), which reported mean values in the range 0.05–3.82 mg/kg (e.g., Malea and Haritonidis, 1999; Marín-Guirao et al., 2005; Vizzini et al., 2013). The values of Cd in U. lactuca detected in this study were generally in line with previous findings (e.g., Storelli et al., 2001; Boubonari et al., 2008; Shams El-Din et al., 2014; see Table 5). Cd levels in U. lactuca and C. nodosa are correlated with Cd content in seawater and sediments from the sampling sites of this study (Table 6), implying that both species may be recommended as bioindicators of Cd contamination (Schintu et al., 2009; Bonanno and Di Martino, 2016).