Assessment of Heavy Metals Transition (Pb, Ni and Vanadium) In Hur Al-Azim Wetland Food Chain

Heavy metals are one of the most important organic pollutants in the environment due to human activities in the environment. This study was carried out to investigate heavy metals in 7 stations of Hur al-Azim wetland in the spring of 2018. The statistical population for measuring heavy metals such as Ni, Pb and vanadium with 3 repetitions included 21 sediment samples, 21 water samples, 21 Phragmites samples and 21 Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (Beni)fish samples. In sediments, nickel element with an average of 28.56 ± 9.18 mg / kg has the highest concentration , vanadium and Pb with values of 21.57± 8.35 mg / kg and 2.74± 1.82 mg / kg were placed in the following ranks (P <0.05). In water, the concentration of lead and nickel metals had the highest concentration between 0.13 - 0.11 and 0.12 - 0.11 mg / l, respectively, and the vanadium in water at Station 7 with 1.08 mg / L concentration (P <0.05) and vanadium were higher than nickel and lead concentration (P <0.05). Vanadium, with an average concentration of 1.26 (range 0.90-2.50), had the highest concentration of 1 mg / kg in the Phragmites (P <0.05) and, except in the Phragmites, two stations 2 and 3, with Ni and Pb had higher concentration respectively, and vanadium had the highest concentration in other stations (P <0.05). In the muscle of Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (Beni) fish held from station 7, lead and vanadium metals with values of 52.1± 08.0 and 0.71± 07 mg / kg and Ni with a value of 0.54 ±0.04mg / kg in the station 5 had the highest value (P <0.05). Hur al-Azim wetland sediments showed low ecological risk in terms of values of ecological pollution index. A comparison of the low concentrations of metals in the Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (Beni) fish muscle with the WHO and NHMRC standards showed that the fish muscle was unhealthy in terms of nutrition. There was a correlation between the concentration of heavy metals in the sediment chain, water, Phragmites and fish, and sediment and Phragmites were the main storage of heavy metals in the wetland.