Bioavailability of Metals in Sediment

Abstract

Different types of contaminants such as metals, hydrocarbons, PCBs, pesticides, and etc. enter the sediment and then to the aquatic habitat. These contaminants are very high in the sediment due to which it is very harmful to our living organisms as it enters in their body when they eat sediments. The transfers from lower organisms to upper organisms through the food chain. Many studies have shown that the accumulation of heavy metals from sediment and water to living tissues of organisms. Especially, many fishes contain the high level of mercury in their body. These harmful contaminants have shown serious health issues such as skin cancer, the decline in reproductive rates, improper embryonic development or progeny with birth defects, and neurological disorder. On the other hand, total concentrations of sediment-bound contaminant processed by deposit-feeding polychaetes cannot be predicted by their bioavailability and toxicity, despite suitable helpful measures of metal contamination in sediments.