A baseline study of metal contamination along the Namibian coastline for Perna perna and Choromytilus meridionalis

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 85; no. 1; pp. 297 - 305
• Main Authors: Dahms, S., van der Bank, F.H., Greenfield, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 15.08.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Bays; Bioaccumulation; Biological and medical sciences; Bivalves; Choromytilus meridionalis; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environmental Monitoring; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geography; Hazardous Substances; Heavy metals; ICP-OES; Invertebrates; Marine; Marine and brackish environment; Metals - analysis; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Mining; Mollusca; Mussels; Mytilus - drug effects; Namibia; Perna; Perna - drug effects; Perna perna; Pollution; Sea water ecosystems; Seawater; Synecology; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Namibia; ANW, Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax; PSW, Namibia, Walvis Bay; Namibia, Swakopmund; Pollution; Bivalves; Mussels; Bioaccumulation; Heavy metals; ICP-OES; Heavy metal; Marine environment; Bivalvia; Choromytilus meridionalis; Invertebrata; Mollusca; Biological accumulation; Chemical contamination
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.05.037

•Baseline metal concentration data from the Namibian coastline was collected.•Walvis Bay harbour appeared to have little impact on metal concentrations along the Namibian coastline.•No similarities were found in metal concentration uptake patterns between Perna perna and Choromytilus meridionalis.•Iron was the only metal that showed a significant correlation between Perna perna and Choromytilus meridionalis.•Overall, the study indicates the marine environment in relation to heavy metal contamination as normal. The use of bivalves such as the brown mussel (Perna perna) and the black mussel (Choromytilus meridionalis) is common in the study of marine pollution and the effect of these pollutants on ecosystems and are important in both economic and ecological roles. Namibian marine ecosystems are threatened by pollution from mining, commercial fishing and population growth. The aims of this study were to determine baseline metal concentrations, spatial variation and variation between species. Metal levels in C. meridionalis from Guano Platform (GP) are the lowest of all the sites. The most polluted sites are Rocky Point (RP), Halifax Island (HIL) and between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund (WS). The bioaccumulation of metals between P. perna and C. meridionalis were not uniform for all metals. Overall the study indicates the condition of the coastline to be mostly normal, with Cd and Pb levels being of concern.