Heavy Metal Assessment in Taps Drinking Water of Ramadi City Using Water Quality Indices, Anbar Province, Iraq

This study goals to assess the concentrations of specified Heavy Metals (HMs) and quality of taps drinking water of Ramadi city, western Iraq. Heavy Metal Pollution Indices like heavy metal pollution index (HMPI ), heavy metal evaluation index (HMEI) and contamination degree (CD) were applied to assess the supplied water. The average concentrations of Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Arsenic (As) and Cadmium (Cd) in most stations exceed the maximum admissible concentration, while Iron (Fe) in most of stations was within the maximum admissible concentration according to local and global guidelines. (HMPI ) values of most stations were exceed the maximum critical value of 100. (HMEI) values of most stations were exceed the value of 10 recommended for drinking water. (CD) values of most stations were exceed the value of 1 recommended for drinking water. The pollution origins were assessed using principal component analysis (PCA) and clustering analysis (CA). The results indicate that contamination comes from anthropogenic causes being the most common and lithogenic sources being the least common. The present concentration of (HMs) in taps water is causing health and environmental problems, water with high (HMs) concentrations would need to be treated before being supplied to consumers.

Comparative Fatty Acid Profiling of Edible Fishes in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

The aim of this study was to compare the relative nutritional benefit of edible Malaysian fishes from the coast of Terengganu in Malaysia, as well as to perform a taxonomical characterization and metal assessment. Discrimination between species was carried out by a morphological and molecular approach by evaluating the total concentrations of metals by ICP-MS analyses and the fatty acids (FA) composition using the GC–MS approach on the fish fillet tissues. The taxonomical studies detected fishes of 11 families and 13 species. The heavy metal assessment showed that all detected elements did not exceed the regulatory limit stated by Malaysian Food Regulations. The proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFA) ranged from 33 to 58.34%, followed by the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) values from 24 to 51.8%, and the lowest proportion was of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), ranging from 12.7 to 35.9%. The ω-3/ω-6 PUFA and PUFA/SFA ratios were determined in the range 1.1 to 7.4 and 0.35 to 1.6, respectively. The C20:5 ω-3 and C22:6 ω-3 acids were detected at levels comparable to those found in the corresponding species from similar tropical marine ecosystems. The high FA values can be useful biochemical tools for comparing the relative nutritional benefits of these biodiverse and non-toxic edible Malaysian fishes.

Physicochemical and Heavy Metal Assessment of the Udu River, Delta State, Nigeria

The Udu River is a major source of commerce and provides water for agricultural and domestic use to the Udu people, hence we studied the physicochemical parameters (pH, electrical conductivity, TSS, TDS, turbidity, Salinity, DO, COD, BOD, chlorides, sodium, potassium, total hardness, alkalinity, nitrates, ammonium, sulphates) as well as the evaluation of the degree of metal contamination (iron, zinc, cadmium, nickel, copper and lead) present in the samples. The analyses carried out revealed water samples were acidic, pH below 7, temperature ranged from 29.5 oC - 32.7 oC which was above WHO permissible limit 25oC, low levels of Dissolve oxygen DO (DO: max = 6.5 mg/L below WHO limit of 7.5 mg/L) and BOD ranges did not exceed the suggested 4.5mg/L (WHO max. limit). Concerning the heavy metals, the examined results showed lead, nickel, copper and zinc all below the WHO max limit. A significant increase in the concentration of Iron was noticed in Ovwian sampling site, also there was also build of cadmium above WHO limit 0.003mg/L at Igbogidi.

Impact of Heavy Metals on Human Male Fertility—An Overview

Heavy metals are endocrine disruptors which interfere with processes mediated by endogenous hormones of the organism, negatively affecting endocrine functions. Some studies have correlated heavy metal exposure with male infertility. However, the number of studies conducted on humans are limited. Therefore, the aim of this study is to summarize the current knowledge on how heavy metals influence human male fertility. Hence, three distinct databases were consulted—PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science—using single keywords and combinations of them. The total number of identified articles was 636. Nevertheless, by using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 144 articles were finally included in this work. Results display that the development of adequate instruments for heavy metal assessment may play an important function in human male fertility diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, clinical trials could be useful to confirm the role of heavy metals in human male fertility diagnosis. Overall, further research is required to fully understand the molecular and cellular basis of the influence of environmental and occupational exposure to heavy metals on human male infertility and reproductive outcomes.

Monitoring Technique For Heavy Metal Assessment In Different Locations of Punjab Using Feathers of Feral Pigeons (Columbia Livia)

Heavy metals are one of the major environmental issues due to their large number of sources and their diligence. The amount of heavy metals in washed and unwashed feral pigeon feathers were investigated in this paper. The feathers were collected from five distant locations: Agronomy Farm Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Cold Storage Jalandhar Bypass, Cold Storage Mullanpur, Jalandhar FCI and Hoshiarpur FCI. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry was used to analyse the concentration of heavy metals (Arsenic, Chromium, Cadmium and Lead). The high metal concentration in two areas (Hoshiarpur FCI and Jalandhar Bypass) as compare to other three areas is due to much more industries and anthropogenic activities. Mean values of As, Cd, Pb, and Cr were statistically significant different in the five collection sites. Metal concentrations are related to contact time or external exposure, as shown by significant differences in Cd, Pb, and Cr concentrations in washed and unwashed feathers. According to our analysis, bird’s feather can be used to quantify the environmental heavy metals. It can also be recommended that unwashed feathers were proficient to explore exogenous and endogenous absorption of the heavy metals.

Heavy Metal Assessment in Feathers of Eurasian Magpies (Pica pica): A Possible Strategy for Monitoring Environmental Contamination?

In the present study, the Eurasian magpie (Pica pica), was evaluated as a possible bioindicator of environmental pollution by heavy metals (HMs). Levels of Ni, Pb, Cd, and Hg in feathers of 64 magpies (31 males and 33 females) were measured by ICP-MS technique. Plasmatic biomarkers of oxidative stress (OS) were also assessed. The birds were captured in the province of Parma (Italy), in different capture sites within 1 km from urban area (UZ), and farther than 5 km from urban area (RZ). Median HM levels were 0.68 mg/kg (0.18–2.27), 2.80 mg/kg (0.41–17.7), <limit of detection (LOD) mg/kg (<LOD–0.25), 3.90 mg/kg (1.35–85.9) for Ni, Pb, Cd and Hg, respectively. No significant differences in HM levels were found according to sex, while Ni and Pb were significantly higher in adult compared to young birds (p = 0.047, p = 0.004). Conversely, Cd and Hg levels in young magpies resulted higher than those of adults (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004). No correlation was found between OS biomarkers and HM levels. No differences were found in HM levels according to capture area, except for Hg level, which resulted higher in magpies of RZ (4.05 mg/kg (1.35–12.7)) compared to UZ (2.99 mg/kg (1.54–85.9)). Further experiments are needed to establish whether magpie feathers could represent a suitable non-invasive tool for biomonitoring HMs in the environment.

Multivariate analysis of sediment quality in River Ogbere, Ibadan, South-West Nigeria

Heavy metals are pollutants of river sediments, and their concentration varies depending on parental material and anthropogenic inputs, thus important to distinguish between the natural and anthropogenic inputs. The objective of this study is to use different types of indexes to assess the current pollution status in Ogbere River sediment and select the best index to describe the sediment quality. The indexes used in this study were enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA has an advantage over other index analyses as it reduces the dimensionality of the data set and thus used to support multivariate cluster analysis. From the study, a total of 12 sediment samples were collected in both seasons across six sampling location and pollution indexes indicated three things: firstly, the metal distribution profile in the sediment showed that the heavy metals analysed for were lower than the maximum allowable limits stipulated by Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR); secondly, minor to extremely severe significant levels of enrichment and thirdly, practically uncontaminated to a moderately contaminated degree of contamination in Ogbere River during the study period. The PCA is considered more sensitive in the analysis of benthic changes and as well as sediment quality. However, the heavy metal assessment indices are not only used for sediment quality. Biological testing and ecological analysis of existing community related to sediment contamination are further recommended in River Ogbere.