MARINE POLLUTION: Heavy Metals

Prepared by:- Rahul Pandey Chandramouli Dubey

What is marine pollution?

Marine pollution is the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy to the marine environment resulting in deleterious effects such as:
Hazards to human health;
Hindrance of marine activities, including fishing;

Impairment of the quality for the use of seawater,

and reduction of amenities.

Heavy metal pollution

Metals occur naturally in the environment but due to industrial revolution via technological advancement, metals concentrations in the environment are becoming increasingly high. Elevated metals concentration in ecosystem occurs in areas such as: Urban areas i.e. cities. Metallicferous mines where metals are being mined Major roads systems vehicle emissions. Areas characterized by auto mobile activities e.g.

Bioaccumulation
Pollutants like heavy metals are conservative

pollutants i.e. they arent broken down by bacteria etc and are effectively permanent. Most plants and animals can regulate their metal content to a certain point but metals that cant be excreted build up in an organism over its lifetime= bioaccumulation . Animals feeding on bioaccumulators take in a higher level of contaminants, which bioaccumulate within themselves. Those animals feeding on them gain even higher inputs of contaminants, and bioaccumulate even greater concentrations and so on with animals at the highest trophic level obtaining highest

Sources of heavy metal pollution

Environmental pollution from hazardous metals and minerals can arise from natural as well as anthropogenic sources. Natural sources are: Forest fires Volcanic activity Dust particles Anthropogenic emissions Chemical based inustries Coal fired power stations Car exhausts

Clark (2001)

Contd.
ATMOSPHERIC Metals can be transferred by the atmosphere in gas or particle form. Particles can fall from the atmosphere onto the land or sea = dry deposition Also precipitation can carry particles or dissolved gases = wet deposition Bubbles breaking the surface of the sea can release salt particles containing metals can travels from sea to atmosphere as well as atmosphere to sea RIVERS Erosion of rocks containing metals Surface runoff sweeps up naturally formed and anthropogenic metal particles Metals often bind with sediments and are deposited on the seabed.

Clark (2001)

Contd
GROUNDWATER SEEPAGE(natural)
Dissolved substances are carried via ground water

movement contamination in soil may be picked up

by the moving waters.

DELIBERATE DISCHARGE(anthropogenic)
Contaminated waste dumping Industrial discharges Sewage

Clark (2001)

Islam & Tanaka (2004).

Toxic effect of lead ( Pb)

Absorption of Pb from different sources is dependent on the amount of Pb presented to portals per unit time and the physical and chemical state in which Pb is presented. Depending on the particle size, lead can enter through lungs. While organic lead is well absorbed through the skin. lead is chemically similar to calcium, body handles it like calcium. In the body lead is distributed throughout bone, teeth, liver, lung, brain. Nutritional iron deficiency enhances Pb toxicity,

Contd..

Lead is used in:Battery casings, pipes, sheets etc 43 million tons produced a year. High levels of lead have been found in marine life near areas of high car density - e.g. 10 ppm in fish caught 300 miles off California coast.

Different conc. Of lead

Toxic effects of mercury(Hg)

Mercury can cause neurological damage, immune

system suppression and can cause fetal abnormalities in mammals .

In humans it has been associated with various

neurological effects, abnormal development and heart damage. In human adults mercury toxicity symptoms include: Visual field constriction Behavioral changes, memory loss, headaches Tremor, loss of fine motor control, spasticity

Contd..
If fetuses / infants are exposed to mercury: Mental retardation Seizures Cerebral palsy Blindness and deafness Disturbances of swallowing, sucking, and speech Hypertonia - muscle rigidity

Contd.
Mercury in the marine environment identified as a

health risk for humans Minamata

disease.

In 1952 a factory in Minamata Japan was using

mercury as a catalyst mercury washed into bay. In 1953 fishermen and farmers showed symptoms-neurological damage and fetal deformity etc. Disease diagnosed in 1956 linked to fish consumption. 1957 fishing banned in area.

Mercury in fish

Most fish species have mercury levels of approximately 0.15 ppm in muscle tissue However cod have been found with levels of 1.29 ppm in Sweden and Denmark Blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus) up to 2ppm 81% more contaminated than 0.5 ppm health regulation Little tunny (Euthynnus alletterus) up to 3.4ppm 75% more contaminated than 0.5 ppm health regulation High mercury (and other heavy metal) levels have also been associated with disease -induced mortality i.e. mercury may damage the immune

Kidney dysfunction has been reported in cetaceans when liver concentrations of cadmium exceed 20 ppm wet weight.

Fujise et al. (1988)

Mercury in whale meat

Recent research has shown that cetacean meat being sold in Japan for human consumption had extremely high levels of mercury
Mean contamination levels in cetacean red meat were 22 and 18 times higher than levels permitted by the Japanese government for total mercury (0.4 ppm)
Levels were exceeded by up to 200x Mercury levels in boiled liver were even higher: 1,980 ppm (wet weight). Rats fed contaminated meat showed signs of kidney

Clark (2001)

Toxic effect of Cadmium (Cd)

Cadmium was used in: Electroplating, solder and as a pigment for plastic. Main sources of current production: By product of zinc mining Nickel-Cadmium battery production. Other sources: Burning coal (0.25-0.5 ppm) and oil (0.3ppm) Wearing down of car tyres (20-90 ppm) Corrosion of galvanised metal (impurity: 0.2% Cd) Phosphate fertilisers (phosphate rock 100 ppm Cd)

Contd.
High cadmium levels can lead to:

depressed growth, kidney damage, cardiac enlargement, hypertension, foetal deformity, Cancer

In humans cadmium concentrations above 200-400 ppm in kidney tissue can lead to renal damage

Itai-Itai disease

MANAGEMENT OF POLLUTION FROM METALS AND MINERALS

Technological options should not just be confined to remediation strategies, but concentrate on mitigation strategies. Release within safe limits has to be through three complementary functions: 1. Technological ; 2. Management (implementation); 3. Regulatory. Technologies for reduction should be cost- effective and affordable. Most industries use engineering technologies for remediation based on physicochemical methods. Method should remove meatal from the entire food chain

 For liquid effluents- Physico-chemical processes. For particulate matter- Physico-technical process. Convertion into solid form and after recycling ptting
back into earth, fixing in such from where it can not leach.

Contd......

Phytotechnologies to reduce the burden of heavy metal

load. Some example1. Microflora associated with plants; endophytic bacteria, rhizosphere bacteria and mycorrhizae have the potential to degrade organic compounds in association with plants and this process is termed rhizoremediation.

Contd.....
Modified plants for phytoremediation
1.
2.

Ralstonia eutropha (a natural inhabitant of soil) was transformed using a mouse gene. Transgenic plants of Arabidopsis thaliana were produced for detoxification of soils

In India: Scope of technology

Common treatment -22 Storage and Disposal Facilities in 10 states have

been established-7 in Gujarat, 4 in Maharashtra, 3 in UP, 2 in AP, and 1 each in HP, MP, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. (CPCB, New Delhi). Several technologies are developed for water and land sectors for waste management as well as a kit for testing the quality of water. For recovery of heavy metals like mercury from medical devices and CFL bulbs, suitable collection centres need to be set up, and some refund given. . In medical devices like thermometers and BP apparatus, digital devices should replace the mercury-based sphygmomanometers.

Suggestions for further action:

Recycling/reprocessing of wastes containing toxic

metals needs to be given greater emphasis not only from environmental and health considerations but also as a resource conservation measure. Monitoring of air, water and soil in the vicinity of the toxic metal processing units needs to be carried out more rigorously for the specific metal. Tailings dumps and process wastes lying in locations close to the processing units need to be remediated on priority. Guidelines for proper management of tailings and slags containing toxic metals should be prepared taking into consideration techno- economic feasibility. Health monitoring of workers engaged in the

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