Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Freshwater Organisms: Assessment of Toxic Interactions∗

Diverse industrial wastes have aggravated the problem of water pollution. This problem becomes complex because of the non-degradability of inorganic pollutants like heavy metals. Metals have received particular attention among other non-degradable toxic chemicals because of their adverse effects on aquatic life forms. To control water pollution, the immediate problems have to be solved by adopting alternative technologies to chemical-specific tools which suit low capital availability and minimum manpower. There has been considerable interest in using aquatic plants for removal of various pollutants, including heavy metals, from water bodies because of their fast growth rate and simple growth requirements, which are favorably compared to those of fish. Moreover, aquatic plants are particularly important in heavy metal pollution studies, since the analysis of these plants can give an indication of the state of water environment to which they have been exposed. The common duckweed, Lemna minor, is potentially useful as an indicator of pollution because of its ability to integrate and rapidly monitor the pollutants’ variations in the water. Moreover, they tolerate unstable environmental conditions and exhibit high sensitivity to heavy metal toxicity. The majority of published data concerning the heavy metal removal potential by aquatic plants is focused on single metal ∗This paper has beed presented at MBCAC III (3rd Mediterranean Basin Conference on Analytical Chemistry) 4-9 June, 2000 Antalya-Turkey