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Distribution of heavy metals in edible bivalve Donax faba collected from Pasir Panjang: A health risk assessment

Yap CK

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Edward Thomas FB

Natural Resources and Environment Board, Petra Jaya, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Cheng WH

Inti International University, Persiaran Perdana BBN, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Ibrahim MH

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Nulit R

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Tony Peng SH

All Cosmos Bio-Tech Holding Corporation, PLO650, Jalan Keluli, Pasir Gudang Industrial Estate, 81700 Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia

Ismail MS

Fisheries Research Institute, Batu Maung, 11960 Penang, Malaysia

Leow CS

Humanology Sdn Bhd, 73-3 Amber Business Plaza, Jalan Jelawat 1, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Yap CW

Mes Solutions, 22C-1, Jalan BK 5A/2A, Bandar Kinrara, 47100 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia

DOI: 10.15761/FDCCR.1000128

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Abstract

The mudflat bivalve Donax faba, locally known as Lala, were collected from the intertidal area from Pasir Panjang, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The collected bivalve were separated into five different tissue parts (remainder, muscle, foot, siphon, mantle, and gill) and together with their shells, were analyzed for the content of Cd, Cu, Ni, Fe, Pb and Zn. From this study, the Cu concentrations in the soft tissues of the bivalve are in the decreasing order of gills>remainder>mantle for all the three sampling sites. For Zn, the highest concentrations of this metal were recorded in mantle and gill of the species. Non-essential metals, such as Cd, Pb, and Ni were found to be high accumulated in the shells. However, no clear pattern of Fe accumulation was observed in all the tissues in this study. For health risk assessment, all the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) values for both Average Consumer (AC) and High Consumer (HC) for all six metals in this study were below one except for Cd for HC. Therefore, the bivalve found in Pasir Panjang is safe to be consumed as according to the THQ values (<1), but the consumption should be in moderation as the THQ values were above one for Cd HC.

Keywords

Different tissues, biomonitor, bivalves, heavy metals

Introduction

An excessive amount of heavy metals content in global mangrove sediments has long been recorded, which is a devastating repercussion from anthropogenic activities [1-4]. Heavy metals are classified as one of the major pollutants threatening the well-being of the ecosystem due to their detrimental properties [4,5]. Due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, the coastal ecosystem, such as intertidal mangrove areas of tropical and subtropical countries, are susceptible to severe heavy metal pollution [6]. Human activities such as shipping, waste disposal are the leading cause of pollution in the mangrove ecosystem [7]. In addition to that, mangroves are well known for their ability to retain heavy metals owing to the anaerobic and sulphide-rich nature of the sediments [1,6,8].

Thus, ongoing monitoring of heavy metals pollution should be conducted in mangrove areas as this ecosystem is not only the primary habitat for various flora and fauna but also serve as a seasonal shelter for migratory birds [7]. Apart from that, wetland ecosystems had been proven to be an effective mean of industrial, domestic and mining waste effluents treatment as the methods of treatments are simple and economical [9,10].

Numerous reported studies had confirmed the feasibility of bivalve as good bio monitors for heavy metals in intertidal areas [11-17] which is mainly due to the fact that the metal concentrations in the soft tissues of bivalves are able to give a clear profile of the heavy metals pollution status in the coastal waters [15,16,18]. Their sessile, relatively long life span and high tolerances of heavy metals enable them to display a time-integrated measurement of metals accumulation in a given environment. Therefore, their metal content is a direct reflection of the contamination history of the particular environment [19]. Since Donax faba is a common food among the locals, it is of utmost importance to assure that the safe consumption of this species. Cheng and Yap (2015) had reported the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) of the mangrove snails, Nerita lineata, but the information on the safety consumption of D. faba in this region is scarce.

Heavy metals determination with statistical analysis of D. faba has been reported by [20] from samples collected in Pasir Panjang, but the actual values of the metal concentrations in the different tissues of the species were not presented. Thus, this study aims to present the concentrations of six metals in D. faba collected from Pasir Panjang in 2006 and to estimate the human health risk assessment of heavy metals from consuming the species.

Materials and Methods

Preparation and metal extraction

The bivalve D. faba (about 30 individuals) were collected from Pasir Panjang (Figure 1) on 28 April 2006. The samples were then dissected into six different tissue parts: remainder, muscle, foot, siphon, mantle, and gill. All dissect tissues and shells were dried in the oven (60°C) until the constant dry weight was obtained. Dried tissue parts were digested in concentrated HNO3 (Analar grade, BDH 69%) by heating them in a hot-block digester. The acid-tissues mixture was first heated at 40°C for one hour ant then first at a low temperature for 1 hour, followed by full digestion at 140°C for at least 3 hours [21]. All tissues were prepared with triplicates. The digested sample was topped up with double-distilled water (DDW) to a volume of 40 mL before filtration.

Figure 1. Map showing the sampling sites for Donax faba in Pasir Panjang (P), Peninsular Malaysia

Target Hazard Quotient

Total Hazard Quotient values were determined from the formula below as proposed by [22] USEPA (2000). As the whole soft tissue data were not available in this study, the remainder tissue, which constituted the most significant portion of the total soft tissue of the species were chosen for THQ determination. The formula accounted for two groups of consumers depending on their degree of consumptions, namely Average Consumers (AC) and High Consumers (HC).

THQ= EDI/ ORD---------------(2)

Where:

EDI= (M x C/BW)

C = consumption rate consumption rate (AC = 17.86 and HC = 35.7 g/d ); M = concentration of metals of sample in this study (mg/kg ww); BW = average body weight of an adult (60 kg)

The oral reference dose (ORD)was used in this study to evaluate the EDIs of metals in the bivalves. The ORD values (μg/kg/day) used in this study were: Cd: 1.00; Cu: 40.0; Ni: 20.0; Fe: 700; and Zn: 300, provided by the USEPA's regional screening level [23].

Since RfD for Pb was not available according to the [23], the present study employed the ORD as 3.50 μg/kg/day as suggested by USEPA (2008).

Results with THQ value > 1 indicate the possibility of health hazard based on a lifetime consumption of the metal-contaminated sample in the study [24].

Metal determination

Analysis of heavy metals was performed using the air-acetylene flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) Perkin-Elmer Model Analyst 800, where data were presented in µg/g dry weight. Quality of the analytical method was confirmed by conducting metal recovery analyses, and procedural blanks check. The data obtained from heavy metals recovery were of satisfaction (80-110%) while procedural blanks and standard solutions for all six metals in this study were analyzed for every 5-10 samples to ensure accuracy of data.

Results and Discussions

Table 1 shows the condition index and allometric data of D. faba collected from Pasir Panjang. Based on Figures 2 and 3 and Table 2, it was observed that Cu was accumulated at higher concentrations in the gill and remainder as compared to other soft tissues. While the highest concentrations of Zn were detected in the gills and mantle, shells, on the other hand, accumulated the highest concentrations of Cd, Ni, and Pb, which are the non-essential metals. High Fe concentrations were recorded in the muscle, gill, and mantle of the bivalve. According to [25] preposition on shellfishes, the distribution of metals in the tissues of D. faba could be explained based on three main factors. The first factor was attributed to the different surrounding contact area of each soft tissues differences in the surface of contact of the various soft tissues. The second factor involves the variation of affinities towards the binding site of metallothionein displayed by each metal in each tissue [15,26,27]. In this study, gill of D. faba has the highest concentration of Cu and therefore could have the highest affinity towards the metal. The last factor revolves around the accumulation and excretion rate of the metals differing in each soft tissue. Different rates of accumulation and depuration is an implication of metal treatment and regulation by the biological system of the species [28]. This is supported by different variation of metal concentrations found in the different tissues of D. faba in this study. Donax faba, like many other mollusks [15,16,29,30], can provide the contamination status and integrated bioavailability of metals in coastal waters excelling over seawater and sediments as biomonitoring agents [31]. All the THQ values for both AC and HC for all six metals in this study were below one except for Cd for HC (Table 3). These values had indicated that there was no likelihood of adverse health effects for all the six metals from consumption of the remaining tissues of D. faba for AC and HC, except for Cd of HC. The results of safety consumption are somewhat in agreement with those reported by [32] for the same metals in this study but in N. lineata.

Figure 2. Donax faba collected from Pasir Panjang, Negeri Sembilan

Figure 3. Heavy metal concentrations (Cu, Cd. Zn, Pb, Ni, and Fe) in the different soft tissues of Donax faba (La-La) collected from Pasir Panjang, Negeri Sembilan

Table 1. Mean values (mean ± standard error) of condition index (CI) and other allometric parameters of Donax faba collected from Pasir Panjang

Group

N

Shell lenght, (cm)

Shell width, (cm)

Shell height, (cm)

Soft tissue wet weight, (g)

Soft tissue dry weight, (g)

CI (g/cm3)

1.

10

27.6-33.0

(30.1±0.576)

12.0-15.6

(13.7±0.374)

19.7-22.7

(20.8±0.325)

1.00-1.81

(1.32±0.084)

0.189-0.306

(0.236±0.013)

20.8-36.2

(27.1±1.43)

2.

10

40.8-45.6

(42.5±0.409)

20.2-24.8

(22.4±0.429)

28.7-34.5

(31.3±0.663)

2.68-6.05

(3.77±0.314)

0.572-1.13

(0.753±0.054)

22.1-29.0

(25.0±0.842)

Table 2. Ranges (and mean ± SE μg/g dw) of heavy metal concentrations (Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni, and Fe) in the different part of tissues of Donax faba

Tissues

Cu

Cd

Zn

Pb

Ni

Fe

Shell

9.73-10.0

9.88±0.158

6.77-7.63

7.20±0.429

4.55-4.57

4.56±0.011

5.10-5.43

5.27±0.167

28.3-28.7

28.5±0.194

47.0-81.1

64.1±17.1

Remainder

13.8-16.4

15.1±1.32

2.57-2.91

2.74±0.172

42.2-43.1

42.6±0.446

0.790-1.12

0.954±0.163

2.37-3.03

2.70±0.331

608-767

687±79.6

Mantle

6.76-6.97

6.86±0.103

2.81-3.09 2.95±0.139

44.6-49.1

46.8±2.29

1.37-1.56

1.47±0.099

2.66-3.83

3.25±0.584

244-320

282±37.9

Gill

12.4-13.4

12.9±0.536

3.75-4.10

3.92±0.175

92.2-94.5

93.4±1.16

2.01-2.17

2.09±0.079

4.61-4.91

4.76±0.149

466-473

470±3.81

Siphon

5.31-5.52

5.41±0.103

3.21-3.34

3.28±0.066

41.0-44.6

42.8±1.84

2.21-2.46

2.34±0.121

2.10-2.37

2.24±0.135

248-402

325±77.3

Foot

5.58-6.37

5.98±0.395

3.54-3.83

3.68±0.144

38.1-39.4

38.8±0.661

2.28-2.43

2.36±0.075

1.49-1.67

1.58±0.090

85.3-123

104±18.7

Muscle

4.51-4.92

4.71±0.204

3.39-4.08

3.74±0.346

27.5-29.1

28.3±0.805

2.38-2.63

2.51±0.127

1.59-2.47

2.03±0.444

91.7-127

109±17.6

Table 3. Target hazard quotient values of the six metals (Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni and Fe) for AC and HC consuming the remainder tissues of Donax faba

THQ values

Cu

Cd

Zn

Pb

Ni

Fe

Average consumers (AC)

0.11

0.82

0.04

0.08

0.04

0.29

High consumers (HC)

0.22

1.63

0.08

0.16

0.08

0.58

Conclusion

From the present study, D. faba exhibited its potential as a good biomonitoring agent where different parts of the species are could be a reflection of the metals contamination at a particular. It was shown that the species could exhibit the bioavailability of Zn in its gills, Cu and Fe in the remainder tissues and the non-essential metals (Cd, Ni, and Pb) in the shells, from the surrounding of Pasir Panjang. The elevated concentrations of the six metals in the samples collected from Pasir Panjang denoted the high bioavailabilities these metals in the area. The species found in this site are safe to be eaten as according to the THQ values (<1), but the consumption should be in moderation as the THQ values were above one for HC.

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided through the Research University Grant Scheme (RUGS) [Vote no: 91229] by the Universiti Putra Malaysia and e-Science Fund [Vote no: 5450338] by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia.

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Editorial Information

Editor-in-Chief

A.A. Altintas
University Essen, Germany

Ozgur KARCIOGLU
University of Health Sciences, Turkey

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received date: May 27, 2019
Accepted date: June 17, 2019
Published date: June 27, 2019

Copyright

©2019 Yap CK. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation

Yap CK, Edward Thomas FB, Cheng WH, Ibrahim MH, Nulit R, et al. (2019) Distribution of heavy metals in edible bivalve Donax faba collected from Pasir Panjang: A health risk assessment. Frontiers Drug Chemistry Clinical Res. 2: DOI: 10.15761/FDCCR.1000128

Corresponding author

Chee Kong Yap

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

E-mail : bhuvaneswari.bibleraaj@uhsm.nhs.uk

Figure 1. Map showing the sampling sites for Donax faba in Pasir Panjang (P), Peninsular Malaysia

Figure 2. Donax faba collected from Pasir Panjang, Negeri Sembilan

Figure 3. Heavy metal concentrations (Cu, Cd. Zn, Pb, Ni, and Fe) in the different soft tissues of Donax faba (La-La) collected from Pasir Panjang, Negeri Sembilan

Table 1. Mean values (mean ± standard error) of condition index (CI) and other allometric parameters of Donax faba collected from Pasir Panjang

Group

N

Shell lenght, (cm)

Shell width, (cm)

Shell height, (cm)

Soft tissue wet weight, (g)

Soft tissue dry weight, (g)

CI (g/cm3)

1.

10

27.6-33.0

(30.1±0.576)

12.0-15.6

(13.7±0.374)

19.7-22.7

(20.8±0.325)

1.00-1.81

(1.32±0.084)

0.189-0.306

(0.236±0.013)

20.8-36.2

(27.1±1.43)

2.

10

40.8-45.6

(42.5±0.409)

20.2-24.8

(22.4±0.429)

28.7-34.5

(31.3±0.663)

2.68-6.05

(3.77±0.314)

0.572-1.13

(0.753±0.054)

22.1-29.0

(25.0±0.842)

Table 2. Ranges (and mean ± SE μg/g dw) of heavy metal concentrations (Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni, and Fe) in the different part of tissues of Donax faba

Tissues

Cu

Cd

Zn

Pb

Ni

Fe

Shell

9.73-10.0

9.88±0.158

6.77-7.63

7.20±0.429

4.55-4.57

4.56±0.011

5.10-5.43

5.27±0.167

28.3-28.7

28.5±0.194

47.0-81.1

64.1±17.1

Remainder

13.8-16.4

15.1±1.32

2.57-2.91

2.74±0.172

42.2-43.1

42.6±0.446

0.790-1.12

0.954±0.163

2.37-3.03

2.70±0.331

608-767

687±79.6

Mantle

6.76-6.97

6.86±0.103

2.81-3.09 2.95±0.139

44.6-49.1

46.8±2.29

1.37-1.56

1.47±0.099

2.66-3.83

3.25±0.584

244-320

282±37.9

Gill

12.4-13.4

12.9±0.536

3.75-4.10

3.92±0.175

92.2-94.5

93.4±1.16

2.01-2.17

2.09±0.079

4.61-4.91

4.76±0.149

466-473

470±3.81

Siphon

5.31-5.52

5.41±0.103

3.21-3.34

3.28±0.066

41.0-44.6

42.8±1.84

2.21-2.46

2.34±0.121

2.10-2.37

2.24±0.135

248-402

325±77.3

Foot

5.58-6.37

5.98±0.395

3.54-3.83

3.68±0.144

38.1-39.4

38.8±0.661

2.28-2.43

2.36±0.075

1.49-1.67

1.58±0.090

85.3-123

104±18.7

Muscle

4.51-4.92

4.71±0.204

3.39-4.08

3.74±0.346

27.5-29.1

28.3±0.805

2.38-2.63

2.51±0.127

1.59-2.47

2.03±0.444

91.7-127

109±17.6

Table 3. Target hazard quotient values of the six metals (Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni and Fe) for AC and HC consuming the remainder tissues of Donax faba

THQ values

Cu

Cd

Zn

Pb

Ni

Fe

Average consumers (AC)

0.11

0.82

0.04

0.08

0.04

0.29

High consumers (HC)

0.22

1.63

0.08

0.16

0.08

0.58