Mercury speciation in the Persian Gulf sediments

Abstract

The concentrations of total mercury (Hg) and methyl mercury (MMHg) were determined in 78 marine sediments in the Iranian coastal waters of the Persian Gulf along nine transects perpendicular to the coastline. Total Hg ranged from 10 to 56 ng g( - 1)d.w. and MMHg from 0.1 to 0.4 ng g( - 1) d.w. The fraction of methyl mercury accounted from 0.3% to 1.1% of the total mercury amount. The organic carbon (OC) content ranged from 0.4% to 1.8%. The present study indicates that the levels of Hg in the sediments of the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf were all in the concentration range of unpolluted areas regarding Hg (<100 ng g( - 1)). The concentrations of total Hg, methyl mercury and organic carbon were generally higher in the deeper stations. Total Hg and MMHg were significantly correlated, but no significant correlations could be found between the Hg and OC levels.

Total mercury distribution in sediment cores from Kuwait Bay

“…These values are currently still higher than those recently determined for the sediment samples collected along the Iranian coastline (10 to 56 ppb) [29] but much lower than the average measured content of THg ∼ 540 ppb in the southern part of the Persian Gulf [30]. …”

Isolation of a broad spectrum antibiotic producer bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas piscicida PG-02, from the Persian Gulf

“…Today, several different antibiotics have been reported from marine bacteria which among them Streptomyces, Pseudoalteromoas, Alteromonas, Bacillus and Pseudomonas are most famous . The Persian Gulf is a relatively shallow and semi-enclosed body of water that has some special ecological conditions such as having high degree of temperature so that its average sea water temperature may rise to 35.8°C and due to high evaporation, its salinity can increased as high as 4% and so on (Agah et al, 2009). The objective of present work was to isolation of potent antibiotic producing bacteria from water and sediment samples collected from different stations of Persian Gulf, as an unexplored source for searching new natural drugs.…”

Heavy Metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Fe, Cr, Mn, Zn) Contents in Ungulates of Ogun State Agricultural Farm Settlement, Ago - Iwoye, Nigeria

“…Heavy metal pollution arises from many sources, but mostly from the purification of metals, sedimentation of dust, electroplating, smelting and precipitation of their compounds or ion into the soil which can localize and lays dormant (Blasco et al, 1998). Unlike organic pollutants, heavy metals do not decay and thus pose a kind of challenges for remediation (Agah et al, 2009). …”

“…Heavy metals are dangerous elements of the earth crusts as they tend to bioaccumulate by increasing in concentration level in biological organisms over time (Dural et al, 2007). Therefore, heavy metals can be bio-accumulated, bio-absorbed, biomagnified via the food chain and finally assimilated by human resulting in health risks (Agah et al, 2009). …”