Assessment of the cadmium and lead content of seagrass, Enhalus acoroides and Cymodocea rotundata collected from Talin Bay Lian, Batangas

• Main Authors: Mallari, Florentino Vengco, Roque, Diadema Cuenca
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1996
• Subjects: Water—Composition > Philippines > Batangas; Sediments (Geology)—Heavy metal content > > Philippines > Batangas; Seagrasses—Heavy metal content > Philippines > Batangas; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/4139
• Institution: De La Salle University

The concentrations of cadmium and lead in water, sediment and two species of seagrass namely, Enhalus acoroides and Cymodocea rotundata collected from the intertidal zone of Talin Bay in Matuod, Lian, Batangas, were investigated using the atomic absorption sphectophotometer. Physico-chemical characteristics were also determined. All samples were collected in July to December 1995. It was found out that there was a greater accumulation of both lead and cadmium in Cymodocea rotundata than in Enhalus acoroides. Lead has values which range from 0.66 - 1.54 mg/L and cadmium levels ranges from 0.06-0.13 mg/L for Enhalus acoroides. Lead concentration found in Cymodocea rotundata ranges from 1.25 - 4.00 mg/L, and a range from 0.09 - 1.42 mg/L was found for cadmium concentration for the same species. A relationship between root morphology and accumulation of heavy metal was established. Seagrasses which have finer root hairs offers a greater area for adsorptin of heavy metals from the sediment compared to seagrasses having few thick roots. Cadmium concentration was found to be higher in substrates compared to the levels in water and biota. Cadmium concentrations in substrate ranges from 0.05 - 10.29 mg/L while the concentration in water ranges from 0.00 - 0.01 mg/L. Lead concentration, on the otherhand, was higher in water than in the substrate which ranges from 1.07 - 5.17 mg/L and from 1.20 - 2.05 mg/L, respectively.