ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATION OF
TUTICORIN MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM
S.R.T.Sherly Cross1 and T.Mohanraj2
1
Dept of Zoology, St.Mary’s College for Women, Tuticorin – 628 001
2
Dept of Zoology, Aditanar College Arts & Science, Tiruchendur – 628 216
ABSTRACT
Mangroves are considered as the most critical habitats in the world. They form one of
the biologically important and productive ecosystems. In recent times heavy metals
are known to pose a potential threat to this sensitive biota. However, very little is
known with regard to the levels of heavy metals found in mangrove ecosystem in
India. To understand this, we analyzed the heavy metal accumulation in water,
sediment and tissue (Marcia opima) samples collected from surrounding root zone
in the Karapad bay and Korampallam creek regions of Tuticorin from March 2010 to
February 2011. Consequently the heavy metals such as Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd were
recorded during the present study. The study revealed the maximum accumulation of
Fe in the sediment and tissue samples that ranged from 1497.32 to 2013.56 μg.g-1.
The accumulation of heavy metals was recorded in the order of: Fe>Zn>Cu>Cd>Pb.
One way ANOVA indicated statistically insignificant difference (p>0.01) in
the variation of Fe, Zn and Cu among samples.
KEY WORDS: Mangroves, ecosystem, heavy metal, sediment, accumulation
INTRODUCTION
Mangroves are salt-tolerant vegetation of tropical and subtropical intertidal
regions of the world. The mangrove ecosystem is said to be highly productive but
extremely sensitive and fragile. Besides mangroves, the ecosystem also harbours other
floral and faunal species. Asia covers the largest area of mangroves in the world, of
which India contributes nearly 3% of the global mangrove habitat (FAO, 2003). Over
the past few decades, heavy metal pollution by anthropogenic and industrial
activities is a serious concern throughout the world. The intense development
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and industrialization have posed an ecological threat to the nearby mangrove
forests which have revealed elevated levels of heavy metals that decline even
the sediment quality (Sarika and Chandramohankumar, 2008; Lewis et al.,
2011). Rapid pace of industrialization and urbanization has led to introduction
of these heavy metals into the coastal ecosystem in the form of pesticides,
fertilizers, organochlorine compounds etc. The heavy metals form the building
blocks of these harmful chemical compounds and enter the organism’s body
from ambient water and sediment.
The most commonly explored heavy metal contaminants include lead,
zinc, mercury, magnesium, nickel, chromium, cadmium, and manganese
(Basamba et al., 2010). Among these, metals like lead, cadmium, chromium
and zinc are highly toxic which could be significantly associated with
bioaccumulation since they cannot be biologically degraded and instead get
concentrated within sediments (Agoramoorthy et al., 2008). Initially, heavy
metals that are introduced into the mangrove habitat are readily trapped by the
sediments (Harbison, 1981; Silva et al., 1990; Clark et al., 1997). These metals are
initially adsorbed to fine grained sediments, and are later bound more permanently as
metal sulphides beneath the sediment surface. These metal sulphides are largely
immobilised, while there are possibilities that they may be released during physical or
biological disturbance of the sediment (Clark et al., 1997). Hence, mangrove
sediments help to prevent the heavy metals from entering into the adjacent marine
ecosystems. Similarly, various faunal species that are found in the mangrove
environment also take up these heavy metals.
Numerous studies that have been carried out with special emphasis to
mangrove species and their sediments have proved them to be reliable bio-
indicators of heavy metal pollution and contamination (Defew, 2005).
Analysis of various heavy metals in the environment and the related
management strategy has recently become a matter of concern for several
researchers. Hence, the current investigation was carried out with the endeavour to
analyze heavy metal accumulation in water, sediment and tissue (Marcia opima)
samples of Karappad bay and Korampallam creek areas of Tuticorin.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
Collection of sample
For the analysis of trace metals in water, sediments and tissue sample, two
mangrove ecosystems namely Karappad bay and Korampallam creek regions of
Tuticorin were selected. Monthly samples of water, sediment and tissue were
collected, for a period of twelve months from March 2010 to February 2011.
Sediment sample
The sediment samples were collected using vertical corer, and were
shade-dried to a constant weight. These sediments were ground and sieved
through mesh (0.5mm) before digestion (Guzman and Jimenez, 1992).
Tissue sample (Marcia opima)
The clams were collected manually and the soft tissues were
removed and dried at 60 ̊ C. The dried tissue were ground to a fine powder
using mortar and pestle and was stored in desiccators for further analysis.
For digestion process 20 ml of the concentrated HNO3 and
perchloric acid were added to 5g of dried samples and the mixture was left for
24 h. The same mixture was digested on a hot plate at 120°C. Thereafter 10
ml of (10%) nitric acid was added and the constituents were transferred to 20
ml polytop vials and were allowed to stand for 24 h for residue to settle down
(Walting and Walting, 1982). The supernatant liquid was filtered through a
0.45 µm Millipore membrane filter. This filtered sample in the vial was then
analyzed in Inductive coupled plasma system (ICP) (Optical Emission
Spectrophotometer by using the instrument Optima 2100 DV and quantified
against a known standards) to estimate the concentration of heavy metals.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Heavy metals, including both essential and non-essential elements seem to
have significance in the field of ecotoxicology (Ebrahimpour and Mushrifah, 2010)
mainly due to their toxicity, level of persistence, bioaccumulation and bio-
magnification in the food chain (Yousafzai et al., 2010). Hence monitoring of heavy
metal contamination using biological samples helps to assess the quality of the aquatic
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systems. Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd were the heavy metals recorded during the present
study. Among these Fe was found prevalent in the sediment and tissue (Marcia
opima) samples at both the study areas and its concentration ranged from 1497.32 to
2013.56 μg.g-1 and 64.27 to 171.24 μg.g-1 respectively. As compared to the
previous studies of Ganesan and Kannan (1995) these results are relatively
higher, revealing enhanced industrial pollution in and around Tuticorin. Out
of the three samples analyzed, the sediment sample recorded the highest Cu
(14.21 μg.g-1), Zn (26.24 μg.g-1) and Fe (2013.56 μg.g-1) concentrations. The
study also revealed that the concentration of Pb in water was higher than the
sediment and tissue samples and its mean value varied from 5.84 to 10.68
μg.g-1. This is in total contradiction to the observation made by Palanichamy
and Rajendran (2000) that recorded high concentration of Pb in the sediment
than in waters off Tuticorin. It has been envisaged that the levels of lead
within mangrove sediments in the Gulf region and others could be increasing
in the upcoming years due to impacts of oil spills and higher rate of fuel
exploitation (Shiradah, 1999; Basamba et al., 2010).
The trace metal concentration particularly Fe, Cu, Pb and Zn was
higher during the northeast monsoon (October to December) in all the
samples. A similar observation was made by Ganesan and Kannan (1995) that
affirmed higher concentration of heavy metals during monsoon seasons which
may be chiefly attributed to the inputs of land based discharges. The
concentration of Cu and Fe were higher in the sediment samples, which is
equivalent to the study made by Baskaran etal.,(2002) that also recorded high
concentration of Fe, Cu and Zn in the sediment at fly ash dumping dyke at
Tuticorin Thermal Power Plant. Chandrasekar (2001) has also observed
elevated levels of heavy metals in the sediments of Tuticorin waters. The
lowest concentration of Fe was recorded during the month of September
(1497.32 μg.gl-1). The water sample comprised of only Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn
during this study. Cadmium was found be the lowest in concentration in water
during September (0.58 μg.gl-1). The tissues samples of Marcia opima have
accumulated Cu, Cd, Fe, Pb and Zn metals, out of which Fe was estimated in
higher concentration during the month of November (162.49 μg.gl-1). Whereas
Zn showed the lowest concentration in the tissue during May (27.29 μg.gl-1).
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The One way ANOVA indicated statistically insignificant difference (p>0.01)
in the variation of heavy metals among samples.
Table1: One way ANOVA analysis for tissue sample heavy metals
Source of
SS df MS F P-value F crit
variation
Between Groups 4970.212 11 451.8375
0.305708 0.982574 1.924308
Within Groups 106416.2 72 1478.003
Total 111386.5 83
Table2: One way ANOVA analysis for water sample heavy metals
Source of
SS df MS F P-value F crit
variation
Between Groups 16.41767 11 1.492515
0.102401 0.999881 1.924308
Within Groups 1049.414 72 14.5752
Total 1065.832 83
Table3: One way ANOVA analysis for sediment sample heavy metals
Source of variation SS df MS F P-value F crit
Between Groups 93017.74 11 8456.158
0.023655 1 1.924308
Within Groups 25738101 72 357473.6
Total 25831118 83
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Fig. 1: Heavy metal concentration in water sample
10
9
8
7
6
5 Fe
4
3 Pb
2
1 Zn
0
Cu
October
March' 2010
January
April
May
December
July
August
June
September
February' 2011
November
Cd
Fig. 2: Heavy metal concentration in sediment sample
2000
1500
1000 Fe
500 Pb
0 Zn
Cu
Cd
Fig. 3: Heavy metal concentration in the tissue sample (Marcia opima)
180
160
140
120
100
Fe
80
60 Pb
40 Zn
20
Cu
0
Cd
October
March' 2010
January
April
May
December
July
August
June
September
February' 2011
November
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Conclusion
The findings of this investigation revealed that the heavy metals namely Fe,
Pb, Zn and Cu were found in higher concentrations in the study areas. Globally, there
has been an undeniable conformity that the reported levels of heavy metals within
mangrove sediments are increasing each year as a result of pollution and activities
caused by developmental expansion and urbanization. Therefore we need to safeguard
the mangrove forests which are a potential pollutant traps that has been very effective
in protecting the adjacent environments. Hence, periodical monitoring of heavy
metals in the aquatic ecosystems need to be ensured through safe disposal of domestic
wastes and industrial effluents.
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