Research regarding the pollution degree from romanian black sea coast

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of pollution with heavy metals (cadmium, cooper, zinc, lead) and pesticides: lindan, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) in mussels collected from various areas of the Romanian Black Sea coast, to determine the most and least polluted areas for raw material harvesting. The research has taken into account mussel specificity as filtering-organisms, able to retain large quantities of water pollutants from their living area. The concentrations of heavy metals were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (air/acetylene flame) and the concentrations of pesticide were determined by gas chromatography with electron capture detection (ECD). A relatively high degree of pollution was registered in areas A1 and A2 with high industrial activities due oil refinery or harbour neighbouring, with Cu concentrations (112.30 ± 3.8 µg/L in A1 and 119.58 ± 2.3 µg/L in A2) and Pb concentrations (21.44 ± 1.6 µg/L in A1 and 24.22 ± 2.8 µg/L in A2) exceeding the maximum limits, as is the case of pesticides detected in these areas. Mussels samples harvested from polluted areas also showed elevated heavy metals values and pesticides concentrations. The areas most suitable for mussel sampling are the A3 and A4 areas, with less industrial activity.