Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution

Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution

Venezuelan oil exploration and exploitation activities have been taking place since the 18th century. These long-term activities are closely related to heavy metal contamination because of the increasing input of toxic pollutants. Variations in heavy metal concentrations can cause, among other thing...

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Autores principales: Ramos, Ruth, Verde, Alejandra, García, Elia M
Formato: Online
Lenguaje:eng
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Publicado: Iniversidad Autónoma de Baja California 2021
Acceso en línea:https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/3124
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record_format ojs
institution Ciencias Marinas
collection OJS
language eng
spa
format Online
author Ramos, Ruth
Verde, Alejandra
García, Elia M
spellingShingle Ramos, Ruth
Verde, Alejandra
García, Elia M
Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution
author_facet Ramos, Ruth
Verde, Alejandra
García, Elia M
author_sort Ramos, Ruth
title Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution
title_short Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution
title_full Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution
title_fullStr Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution
title_full_unstemmed Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution
title_sort heavy metals in venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution
description Venezuelan oil exploration and exploitation activities have been taking place since the 18th century. These long-term activities are closely related to heavy metal contamination because of the increasing input of toxic pollutants. Variations in heavy metal concentrations can cause, among other things, changes in metal distribution patterns, alterations in biogeochemical cycles, and increments in environmental and biological risks. The need for a complete baseline on heavy metal concentrations along the Venezuelan coast is critical. For this reason, we present the concentrations, distribution, and degree of contamination of 9 heavy metals (barium, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, cadmium, zinc, lead, and vanadium) in marine sediments along the Venezuelan coast. We used the enrichment factor, the geoaccumulation index, and the mean effects range median quotients to evaluate the degree of contamination, comparing areas with and without intervention. Our results indicate that higher concentrations of these heavy metals are associated with places with greater anthropic activity, especially on the central and eastern coasts of Venezuela. Only cadmium showed extremely severe enrichment and a high degree of contamination. The biohazard potential was between 12% and 30% and was primarily associated with locations having high oil activity, which suggests that these places must be monitored, given the potential hazard they represent. This work encompasses the distribution and concentration of 9 heavy metals along the Venezuelan coast and takes relevance as a baseline for heavy metal concentrations and pollution indicators in marine sediments for Venezuela and the Caribbean.
publisher Iniversidad Autónoma de Baja California
publishDate 2021
url https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/3124
_version_ 1792095469800783872
spelling oai:cienciasmarinas.com.mx:article-31242023-11-24T21:49:44Z Heavy metals in Venezuelan marine sediments: concentrations, degree of contamination, and distribution Metales pesados en sedimentos marinos de Venezuela: concentraciones, grado de contaminación y distribución Ramos, Ruth Verde, Alejandra García, Elia M metals marine sediments intervened areas pollution indicators Venezuela metales sedimentos marinos áreas intervenidas indicadores de contaminación Venezuela Venezuelan oil exploration and exploitation activities have been taking place since the 18th century. These long-term activities are closely related to heavy metal contamination because of the increasing input of toxic pollutants. Variations in heavy metal concentrations can cause, among other things, changes in metal distribution patterns, alterations in biogeochemical cycles, and increments in environmental and biological risks. The need for a complete baseline on heavy metal concentrations along the Venezuelan coast is critical. For this reason, we present the concentrations, distribution, and degree of contamination of 9 heavy metals (barium, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, cadmium, zinc, lead, and vanadium) in marine sediments along the Venezuelan coast. We used the enrichment factor, the geoaccumulation index, and the mean effects range median quotients to evaluate the degree of contamination, comparing areas with and without intervention. Our results indicate that higher concentrations of these heavy metals are associated with places with greater anthropic activity, especially on the central and eastern coasts of Venezuela. Only cadmium showed extremely severe enrichment and a high degree of contamination. The biohazard potential was between 12% and 30% and was primarily associated with locations having high oil activity, which suggests that these places must be monitored, given the potential hazard they represent. This work encompasses the distribution and concentration of 9 heavy metals along the Venezuelan coast and takes relevance as a baseline for heavy metal concentrations and pollution indicators in marine sediments for Venezuela and the Caribbean. Desde el siglo XVIII, en Venezuela, se han llevado a cabo actividades de exploración y explotación de hidrocarburos. Estas actividades de largo plazo han estado estrechamente relacionadas con la contaminación por metales pesados, debido a un incremento en la producción de sustancias contaminantes. Las variaciones en las concentraciones de estas sustancias pueden causar cambios en los patrones de distribución de metales, alteración de los ciclos biogeoquímicos e incremento en el riesgo biológico, entre otras cosas. Es imperante elaborar una línea base de metales pesados en la costa de Venezuela. En este trabajo se presentan las concentraciones, la distribución y el grado de contaminación de 9 metales pesados (bario, mercurio, cobre, níquel, cromo, cadmio, zinc, plomo y vanadio) en los sedimentos marinos de la costa de Venezuela. Se usó el factor de enriquecimiento, el índice de geoacumulación y los cocientes promedio del efecto de rango medio para evaluar el grado de contaminación y comparar áreas con y sin intervención. Nuestros resultados indican que las mayores concentraciones de metales pesados están asociados a lugares con mayor actividad antropogénica, principalmente en la costa central y la costa este de Venezuela. Solamente el cadmio mostró un severo enriquecimiento y un alto grado de contaminación. El potencial de riesgo biológico estuvo entre el 12% y el 30% y estuvo asociado principalmente a las instalaciones petroleras, lo que sugiere que estos lugares deben ser monitoreados debido al riesgo potencial que representan. Este trabajo abarca la concentración y la distribución de 9 metales pesados a lo largo de la costa venezolana y es relevante por ser una línea base de referencia de metales pesados e indicadores de contaminación en los sedimentos marinos de Venezuela y el Caribe. Iniversidad Autónoma de Baja California 2021-09-29 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article Artículo Arbitrado application/pdf text/xml text/xml https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/3124 10.7773/cm.v47i3.3124 Ciencias Marinas; Vol. 47 No. 3 (2021); 185–199 Ciencias Marinas; Vol. 47 Núm. 3 (2021); 185–199 2395-9053 0185-3880 eng spa https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/3124/420420575 https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/3124/420420810 https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/3124/420420812 Copyright (c) 2021 Ciencias Marinas https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

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