Heavy metals are introduced into aquatic ecosystems from industrial wastes, agricultural runoff and mining activities. The toxicity of heavy metal ions in solution to microalgae is well known. The essentiality and toxicity of heavy metals has been a subject of extensive research (Stokes 1983). From a biological point of view, heavy metals can be divided into two categories: essential and non-es...

in this study, the concentration of calcium (ca), cobalt (co), chromium (cr), copper (cu), iron (fe), potassium (k), magnesium (mg), manganese (mn), selenium (se) and zinc (zn) as essential metals, were determined in caviar of wild beluga sturgeon caught from the caspian sea in march 2012. potassium (4885.51± 17.81 µg g -1 ) and magnesium (346.61± 6.6 µg g -1 ) had the highest concentration and...

Heavy metals such as Cu and Zn are essential for normal plant growth, although elevated concentrations of both essential and non-essential metals can result in growth inhibition and toxicity symptoms. Plants possess a range of potential cellular mechanisms that may be involved in the detoxification of heavy metals and thus tolerance to metal stress. These include roles for the following: for my...

The intracellular compartmentation of essential and toxic metals is of intense scientific interest because of its potential for adding to our understanding of both normal homeostatic mechanisms for metals and of the mechanisms which underlie metal-induced cell injury. High-affinity metal-binding proteins, lysosomes, and precipitates such as inclusion bodies or concretions, play major roles in t...

Iron is a vital element in life. Because of the insolubility of iron oxides and sulfides the implication is that dissolved iron was fairly abundant and that oxygen and sulfide were rare in the atmosphere and ocean. Iron and its compounds present as pollutants in the atmosphere can cause deleterious effects to humans, animals, and materials. Analyses of urban air samples show that the iron conte...

Metals are essential cofactors for bio-chemical processes, including oxidative phosphorylation, gene regulation and free-radical homeostasis. Abnormalities in metal ions concentration in organisms, lead towards the eco-physiological hazards in the aquatics. In aquatic organisms, metal absorption involves transfer of metals to the circulatory system following: uptake by the apical membrane; move...

Heavy metals that enter marine environment and remain in the water as well as the sediments are accumulated by aquatic organisms, thus becoming highly good indicators to monitor metal accumulation in the long run. Metals are potentially harmful to humans and most organisms at varied levels of exposure and absorption. Northern East Mediterranean Sea is a crucial region as it is an area, shared b...