Total Arsenic Concentrations in Sea Turtle Tissues from the Mediterranean Coast of Spain

Impact of Heavy Metals in Eggs and Tissues of C. caretta along the Sicilian Coast (Mediterranean Sea)

“…Comparing the concentration values of chromium and nickel with those found in other works for the same tissues [2,5,29] and eggs [30,31] it has been noted that those found in this study were lower. Considering that high Cr values could lead to cytotoxic and genotoxic effects [32] and high Ni values could have potentially negative effects [33], the present paper's levels do not seem to be worrying.…”

“…It is well known that some of these, defined as essential, can be toxic if present above certain concentrations [3], whereas others (non-essential) can be toxic even at low Environments 2022, 9, 88 2 of 10 concentrations [4]. One of the most studied aspects that determines the increases in their ecotoxicological potential in marine organisms is the biomagnification, that is, the accumulation of pollutants along the food chain [2,5].…”

“…The study of heavy metals in C. caretta is fundamental to evaluating their potentially toxic effects and estimating the type and degree of exposure. In fact, systemic toxic effects, such as teratogenicity, cytotoxicity, and genotoxicity [5], can cause multiple damages to the reproductive, immune, and nervous systems, behaviours, and cause carcinogenesis [17]. Decreased immune capacity, for example, can contribute to the development of infections, such as those produced by viruses, e.g., fibropapilloma [17].…”

“…Several studies in the Mediterranean have reported data on the concentrations of these inorganic pollutants in C. caretta and discussed their potential toxic effects. These were carried out in northwestern Adriatic Sea by Franzellitti et al [22]; in the Adriatic and Ionian Sea by Storelli et al [23]; in Tyrrenean by Maffucci et al [24] and by Esposito et al [10]; in the Northwestern Adriatic Sea by Andreani et al [25]; in the Alboran Sea by García-Fernández et al [17], Jerez et al [3], and Martínez-López et al [5]; in the Balearic Sea by Novillo et al [6]; and in the Northeast Mediterranean Sea (on the southern coast of Turkey) by Yipel et al [2].…”

Potential effects of heavy metal pollution from a cement factory near Saudi Arabia’s largest green turtle rookery

“…Pollution poses a major threat to the survival of marine turtles (Lutcavage et al, 1997 ), which can accumulate heavy metals through food, water, and sediments (Martínez-López et al, 2021 ; Zaib-Un-Nisa et al, 2021 ). Therefore, turtles are potential bioindicators of heavy metal contamination because they are long-living vertebrates with large home ranges (Bruno et al, 2021 ; Zaib-Un-Nisa et al, 2021 ).…”