Potentially hazardous elements in sediments and Ceratophyllum demersum: an ecotoxicological risk assessment in Miliç Wetland, Samsun, Türkiye

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 30; no. 10; pp. 26397 - 26416
• Main Authors: Topaldemir, Halim, Taş, Beyhan, Yüksel, Bayram, Ustaoğlu, Fikret
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2023
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; basins; bioaccumulation factor; Black Sea; Cadmium - analysis; Ceratophyllum demersum; Child; coasts; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; hazelnuts; Humans; indicator species; Lead - analysis; Metals, Heavy - analysis; phytoremediation; Plants; pollution; Research Article; rice; risk; Risk Assessment; sediments; soil; spectroscopy; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollution Control; Wetlands; Black Sea; Bioindicators; Source identification; Bioaccumulation; Potentially hazardous elements; Ecological risk assessment; Ceratophyllum demersum
• ISSN: 1614-7499; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23937-2

Potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) are non-biodegradable and accumulate in places like water, soil, and plants where they endanger environmental health. There are a considerable number of wetlands having both national and worldwide importance in Türkiye. Regarding PHE accumulation, sediments and Ceratophyllum demersum were examined in the Miliç Wetland (MW), situated in a basin with intense hazelnut and rice farming, which is next to the international highway on the Central Black Sea Coast of Türkiye. The quantification of PHEs in the study subjects was undertaken using a validated inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method, and mean concentrations (mg/kg) of PHEs in the sediments were in the order of Al (13,133) > Fe (10,790) > Mn (205.84) > Cu (17.95) > Cr (16.40) > Zn (15.55) > Ni (11.74) > Pb (9.17) > Co (6.30) > As (2.07) > Cd (0.19). The ecotoxicological risk was assessed using sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) and certain geological indices, indicating mostly low ecological risk, low pollution, and no hazardous risk. Based on the modified hazard quotient (mHQ) classification of values, Ni showed low contamination, while Cd, Pb, As, and Cu displayed very low contamination, and Zn presented minor contamination. The findings of total lifetime cancer risk (LCR), hazard quotient (HQ), and hazard index (HI) identified that exposure of adults or children to sediments containing PHEs would not represent a major health risk. As a recommendation, it is necessary to avoid the direct entrance of agricultural pesticides and fertilizers to enhance the sediment quality of the MW. Since the highway was constructed close to MW, this is considered a significant source of human-caused pollution. Consequently, all PHEs analyzed, except for Cd, displayed a bioconcentration factor (BCF) value of more than 1000, indicating that Ceratophyllum demersum is a promising plant for phytoremediation in PHE-polluted ecological systems involving wetlands, and it can efficiently be employed as an indicator species in biological screening investigations.