Assessment of heavy metal pollution in Laizhou Bay (China) using the ecological risk index and the integrated biomarker response of the goby Acanthogobius ommaturus

• Published in: Journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 1519 - 1536
• Main Authors: Liu, Maosheng, Xu, Hua, Zou, Qiang, Fang, Fei, Sun, Shan, Zhao, Yuting, He, Xin, Bo, Yonghui, Yao, Lei, Fang, Yan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 01.07.2023; Springer Nature B.V; School of Agriculture,Ludong University,Yantai 264025,China%Yantai Ecological Environment Monitoring Center,Yantai 264010,China%Yantai Branch of Shandong Technology Transfer Center,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Yantai 264003,China%Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration for Marine Ecology,Shandong Marine Resource and Environment Research Institute,Yantai 264006,China
• Subjects: Acanthogobius; Acanthogobius ommaturus; Arsenic; Benthos; Biological effects; Biomarkers; Cadmium; China; Contamination; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Environmental monitoring; Glutathione; Glutathione peroxidase; Glutathione reductase; glutathione-disulfide reductase; Gobiidae; Heavy metals; liver; Malondialdehyde; Marine fishes; Marine sediments; Mercury; Metal concentrations; Metallothionein; muscle tissues; Oceanography; Peroxidase; Pollution; Reductases; Risk; Sediment; Sediments; Zinc; China; Laizhou Bay; assessment; integrated biomarker responses; heavy metal; Laizhou Bay; goby; goby Acanthogobius ommaturus
• ISSN: 2096-5508; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-022-1387-8

We used the Integrated Biological Responses version 2 (IBRv2) method to evaluate the biological effects of heavy metals in the sediments in Laizhou Bay, China on the benthic goby Acanthogobius ommaturus . In December 2018, gobies and sediments were collected from 15 stations. We measured the activities of defense enzymes and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and metallothionein (MT) in the goby liver as well as the levels of heavy metals in the sediments and goby muscle tissue. Most of the heavy metal concentrations in sediment at each station were below the Class I criteria set by Chinese Standards for Marine Sediment Quality, and the Håkanson ecological risk index suggested low risk for the heavy metals. We found that A. ommaturus could effectively accumulate mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and zinc and that the contents of MT and MDA and the activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase were suitable biomarkers of heavy metal pollution in this species. The IBRv2 method integrated these four biomarkers and discriminated stations according to heavy metal pollution. Higher IBRv2 values suggested more adverse effects in gobies, corroborating more serious heavy metal contamination. The stations with high IBRv2 values and high contents of heavy metals were mainly distributed in the west and northeast parts of the bay. These results show that the IBRv2 approach is a feasible strategy for assessing heavy metal pollution through biological response and biological status and that it can be implemented for environmental monitoring in Laizhou Bay.