title: Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in marine organisms from the Romanian sector of the Black Sea.
abstract: The aim of this research was to study the accumulation of heavy metals (cadmium - Cd, lead - Pb, chromium - Cr, nickel - Ni, and copper - Cu) from water and sediments into living tissues of relevant marine species from different trophic levels of a food web, representative for shallow waters of the Romanian Black Sea Coast where the main anthropogenic impacts exist. The heavy metals concentrations were analysed by using an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer with graphite furnace, the results being further used to calculate the bioconcentration factors for a few key taxa like green and red algae, molluscs and fishes. Seven sampling sites influenced by anthropogenic pollution sources (municipal wastewater treatment plants and diffuse sources) were considered and a total of 300 samples were analysed for the period 2011-2012, this being the first unitary study for the Romanian Black Sea marine ecosystem. In 2011 and 2012 there were no significant differences between the sampling areas considering the heavy metals concentrations in water. For the sediments significant differences were observed between sampling sites for some heavy metals, namely Pb in 2011 and Pb, Cu and Cd in 2012, the highest concentrations being registered in the southern sector of the Romanian Black Sea shore, where the anthropogenic pollution sources are represented by the harbour and wastewater treatment plants. The values of the bioaccumulation factors (BCFsed) shows that algae are good accumulators for Cu>Pb>Ni>Cr>Cd, in comparison with BCFwater where the order of heavy metal accumulation was different: Cr>Ni>Pb>Cd>Cu. Molluscs have higher bioconcentration factors for Cu and Cd for sediments and for Cu and Ni for water. Rapana venosa accumulated more Cd and Cu. For fishes, Pb, Cu and Ni had the highest values in the tissues of benthonic species Mullus barbatus. In bivalve molluscs and fishes, in the majority of cases, there were not recorded exceeding mean concentrations as compared to the maximum allowed concentrations for Cd and Pb.
authors.affiliation: "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, 73, Prof. Dr. D. Mangeron Street, 700050 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Oana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Jitar
authors.affiliation: "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, 73, Prof. Dr. D. Mangeron Street, 700050 Iasi, Romania. Electronic address: cteo@ch.tuiasi.ro.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Teodosiu
authors.affiliation: "Grigore Antipa" National Institute for Marine Research and Development Constanta, Romania.
authors.forename: Andra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oros
authors.affiliation: "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi, Faculty of Biology, Department of Biology, 700505 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Plavan
authors.affiliation: "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi, Faculty of Biology, Department of Biology, 700505 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Mircea
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nicoara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D059038:Black Sea; D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000378:metabolism*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D005843:Geography; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000737:chemistry*; D008974:Mollusca; D000461:Rhodophyta / Q000378:metabolism*; D012383:Romania; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water