Determination of heavy metal pollution of the eastern black sea coastal area and investigation of cu adsorption capacity of the mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis)

In this study, heavy metal pollution of the sea state of the Eastern Black Sea was determined and copper (Cu) uptake capacities of the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were presented. Seawater, sediment and mussel samples were collected seasonally (Summer (July), Winter (February), Fall (November) and Spring (May)) from 12 stations located at the seaside of Artvin, Rize, Trabzon and Giresun in the Eastern Black Sea Region. The metal concentrations of the samples were determined by EDXRF spectrometer (Epsilon5, PANalytical, Almelo, the Netherlands). From the results of metal analyzes of all samples it was tried to determine the elemental concentrations of Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As and Pb. Metal concentrations values determined in mussel soft tissue and sediment samples were generally found to be higher than the previous studies. On the other hand, it was observed no statistically significant differences among the heavy metal concentrations at different shell size mussel soft tissues (p> 0.05). At the heavy metal uptake experiments; for the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) the Cu concentration at the soft tissues was increased as parallel with the increasing Cu concentrations in water. In addition, by using the obtained these heavy metal concentration results, the heavy metal intake by the human population was calculated by taking into account daily mussel consumption. The estimated daily intake values for human health were determined to be below the daily intake values recommended by JECFA. According to the obtained concentrations values and factors component analysis (PCA), it can be said that the investigated area is polluted by anthropologic sources as well as the environmental effects. Results indicates that there is no health risk related to the consumption of mussels for humans in marine environments.