4
1 Heavy Metals in the Marine Environment—An Overview
of ROS (reactive oxygen species), DNA damage and inhibition of relevant repair
mechanisms, and protein misfolding disorders.
Heavy metals produce adverse effects on the health of humans and other living
beings in terrestrial and aquatic environment and affect the food chain (Das et al.
2013). Even though most marine organisms tend to accumulate heavy metals from
the environment, they are also capable of storing, removing or detoxifying many of
them but these capabilities tend to differ between species, as some species could be
more tolerant than others (De Pooter 2013).
Metal related diseases have been identified in countries undergoing rapid industrialization (Esslemont 1998) and these are correlated to environmental disasters,
some of which are mentioned below:
• Late 1800s: Cr toxicity in Scotland (Esslemont 1998);
• 1932-Sewage containing Hg released in Minamata Bay, Japan. There was Hg
accumulation in the sea creatures, leading to Hg poisoning in the population
(Harada 1995; Lenntech 2006);
• 1910–1940s: waste sludge containing Cd from the Kamioka zinc mines in the
River Jinzu catchment of Japan gradually contaminated rice paddies and drinking
water in the area. Cd uptake by rice enhanced by the low pH of the contaminated paddy soils. Ingestion of contaminated rice over many years caused kidney
dysfunction and osteomalacia leading to fragile and deformed bones (Rieuwerts
2015); and this led to the disease known as itai itai disease. Itai itai was referred
to as such because of the excruciating pain experienced by the people who had
consumed contaminated rice;
• 1950s: Cd toxicity in Japan (Esslemont 1998);
• 1952: mass mortality in Japan of human population due to the consumption of
Hg polluted fish-referred to as Minamata Syndrome (Lenntech 2006);
• 1986: water used to extinguish a major fire carries ~30t of fungicide containing
Hg into the Upper Rhine, at Sandoz in Germany, thereby killing fish (Giga 2009);
• 1998: toxic chemicals from a burst dam contaminate Spanish nature reserve
(Lenntech 2006).
• 2010: fish kill resulting from Cu pollution in China: a chemical spill at a Cu
mining-smelting complex in southeast china entered a major river, resulting in a
significant pollution event (Rieuwerts 2015).
• 2011: Cr contamination of drinking water in China: hexavalent Cr contamination
of public water supplies in Yunnan province due to several thousand tonnes of
waste tailings from the production of the tanning chemical chromium sulphate,
dumped illegally on wasteland (Rieuwerts 2015).
• 2014: As pollution in the USA, where 8 × 10
4 ton of coal spilled into the Dan
River in North Carolina, USA contaminating the river with As and other toxic
elements, including Cr (Rieuwerts 2015).
1 Heavy Metals in the Marine Environment—An Overview
of ROS (reactive oxygen species), DNA damage and inhibition of relevant repair
mechanisms, and protein misfolding disorders.
Heavy metals produce adverse effects on the health of humans and other living
beings in terrestrial and aquatic environment and affect the food chain (Das et al.
2013). Even though most marine organisms tend to accumulate heavy metals from
the environment, they are also capable of storing, removing or detoxifying many of
them but these capabilities tend to differ between species, as some species could be
more tolerant than others (De Pooter 2013).
Metal related diseases have been identified in countries undergoing rapid industrialization (Esslemont 1998) and these are correlated to environmental disasters,
some of which are mentioned below:
• Late 1800s: Cr toxicity in Scotland (Esslemont 1998);
• 1932-Sewage containing Hg released in Minamata Bay, Japan. There was Hg
accumulation in the sea creatures, leading to Hg poisoning in the population
(Harada 1995; Lenntech 2006);
• 1910–1940s: waste sludge containing Cd from the Kamioka zinc mines in the
River Jinzu catchment of Japan gradually contaminated rice paddies and drinking
water in the area. Cd uptake by rice enhanced by the low pH of the contaminated paddy soils. Ingestion of contaminated rice over many years caused kidney
dysfunction and osteomalacia leading to fragile and deformed bones (Rieuwerts
2015); and this led to the disease known as itai itai disease. Itai itai was referred
to as such because of the excruciating pain experienced by the people who had
consumed contaminated rice;
• 1950s: Cd toxicity in Japan (Esslemont 1998);
• 1952: mass mortality in Japan of human population due to the consumption of
Hg polluted fish-referred to as Minamata Syndrome (Lenntech 2006);
• 1986: water used to extinguish a major fire carries ~30t of fungicide containing
Hg into the Upper Rhine, at Sandoz in Germany, thereby killing fish (Giga 2009);
• 1998: toxic chemicals from a burst dam contaminate Spanish nature reserve
(Lenntech 2006).
• 2010: fish kill resulting from Cu pollution in China: a chemical spill at a Cu
mining-smelting complex in southeast china entered a major river, resulting in a
significant pollution event (Rieuwerts 2015).
• 2011: Cr contamination of drinking water in China: hexavalent Cr contamination
of public water supplies in Yunnan province due to several thousand tonnes of
waste tailings from the production of the tanning chemical chromium sulphate,
dumped illegally on wasteland (Rieuwerts 2015).
• 2014: As pollution in the USA, where 8 × 10
4 ton of coal spilled into the Dan
River in North Carolina, USA contaminating the river with As and other toxic
elements, including Cr (Rieuwerts 2015).