METALS IN SEDIMENT, SEAGRASS AND GASTROPODS NEAR A NICKEL SMELTER IN GREECE - POSSIBLE INTERACTIONS

Accumulation of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn was studied in the s ediments, Cymodocea nodosa leases, roots and stems and in two gastropo ds from an area adjacent to a ferro-nickel smelting plant and a contro l site on the east coast of Greece, In the sediment, the metals, with the exception of Cu, have significantly higher concentrations in the p olluted than in the clean site. There is a tendency for C, nodosa tiss ues in the polluted area to have higher concentrations of metals altho ugh the differences are not always statistically significant. Co, Mn, Ni and Zn are in higher concentrations in the leaves than in the other tissues, a trend more obvious in the polluted site. Concentrations of metals in the viscera of the gastropods Cerithium vulgatum and Monodo nta mutabilis are higher than in the muscle (except for Cd) and signif icantly higher in the animals from the polluted site. It is suggested that Mn is taken up from the water by C, nodosa leaves, which in the f orm of detritus enter C, vulgatum. Mn concentrates in the viscera of C , vulgatum in the form of granules. Zn follows the same route with add itional amounts being taken by C. vulgatum directly from the water. (C ) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.