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Metallic trace element dynamics in Paracentrotus lividus from Algeria: Environmental large-scale survey and human
Samira Yahiaoui Bouiba1, Mohammed El Amine Bendimerad1, Omar Rouane-Hacene2
1Department of Ecology and Environment, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, Laboratory of Valorization of Human Actions for the Protection of the Environment and Application in Public Health, Abou Bekr Belkaid University, Tlemcen, Algeria.
Abstract:
This paper evaluates the dynamics of Metallic Trace Elements (MTEs; Cd, Pb, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ni and Co) in the gonads of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus collected in five sites: four contaminated and one reference, along the Western coast of Algeria, recontextualizes this contamination within a wider geographical distribution area throughout 83 sites among the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic and focuses on the potential risk of their consumption on human health for the first time in Algeria. The trace element pollution index places Algeria, and generally the North African coasts, as the region most contaminated by MTEs. The geographical variability in metal contamination levels is greater in the Mediterranean Sea than in the Atlantic. The health risk assessment indicates that Pb exceeds the maximum limit set by the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 at two of the four Algerian contaminated sites.
