Brachidontes variabilis and Patella sp as quantitative biological indicators for cadmium, lead and mercury in the Lebanese coastal waters

Type Article
Date 2006-07
Language English
Author(s) Nakhle Khaled1, Cossa Daniel2, Khalaf Ghaby1, Beliaeff Benoit2
Affiliation(s) 1 : Natl Ctr Sci Res, Natl Ctr Marine Sci, Batroun, Lebanon.
2 : IFREMER, F-44311 Nantes 03, France.
Source Environmental Pollution (0269-7491) (Elsevier), 2006-07 , Vol. 142 , N. 1 , P. 73-82
DOI 10.1016/j.envpol.2005.09.016
WOS© Times Cited 25
Keyword(s) Lebanon, Mediterranean Sea, Bioconcentration factors, Patella sp, Brachidontes variabilis, Bioindicator, Trace metal
Abstract The mussel, Brachidontes variabilis, and the limpet, Patella sp., were used as indicators to monitor cadmium, lead and mercury concentrations along the Lebanese coast. Studies were carried out in order to define the best strategy for assessing and minimizing the effects of size and physiological condition on the metal contents of the molluscs, and corrective models were constructed. Metal concentrations in surface water were measured to estimate bioconcentration factors (BCFs). The BCFs varied from 8.3 x 10(3) to 3.4 x 10(4), from 7.5 x 10(3) to 8.0 X 10(3) and from 3.0 x 10(4) to 3.2 x 10(4), for Cd, Pb and Hg, respectively. For limpets, BCFs varied from 1.7 x 10(4) to 7.4 x 10(4) for Cd, from 2.5 x 10(3) to 6 x 103 for Pb and remained fairly constant at around 104 for Hg. The highest BCFs were associated with lowest contamination levels. The results of the geographical survey exhibited a similar large-scale spatial pattern for the two species and followed the metal concentration distributions measured in the waters.
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