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Transfer and accumulation of trace elements in seawater, sediments, green turtle forage, and eggshells in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea

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Abstract

Chemical pollutants present a substantial threat to the survival of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). In this study, the concentrations of 12 trace elements (TEs) in seawater, sediments, and green turtle forage and eggshells from the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, along with their patterns of transfer and accumulation, were identified. The results revealed that the median TE concentrations in seawater and sediments were lower than the first-grade limit values of the national standard in China, indicating a low ecological risk. The concentrations (μg·g−1) of TEs in forage ranged from 0.05–0.69, 3.43–14.4, 157–2391, 27.9–124, 2.05–9.39, 0.30–9.78, 2.01–80.50, 0.18–5.76, 0.06–0.98, 2.00–18.4, 0.02–0.24, and 0.01–0.09 for Cr, Mn, Sr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Cd, As, Pb, and Hg, respectively. Seawater, sediments, turtle forage, and eggshells exhibited different TE profiles, which were driven by Hg, Sr, Cr, and Pb in seawater and sediments; Fe and Ni in sediments; Cd and As in forage; and Zn, Se, and Cu in eggshells. The contents of Cu, Zn, and Se increased slightly with trophic level, indicating that they were transferred through dietary pathways. Although Cd and As appeared to bioaccumulate in green turtle forage, it was not transferred to their eggshells, which may be related to the excretion and metabolism process in the mother’s body. Thus, eggshells may be a poor bioindicator for the exposure of female green turtles to these toxic elements.

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Data will be made available on request.

Abbreviations

TE:

Trace element

BAF:

Bioaccumulation factor

BSAF:

Biological sediment accumulation factor

PCA:

Principal component analysis

OM:

Organic matter

AB:

Arsenobetaine

DMA(V):

Dimethylarsinic acid

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 32160135), the key research and development project of Hainan Province (Grant No. ZDYF2020194), and the Innovative Projects for College Students of Hainan Province (Grant No. S202011658041).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China

    Li Jian, Ting Zhang, Liu Lin, Jinfang Xiong, Haitao Shi & Jichao Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571199, China

    Li Jian

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  1. Li Jian
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  4. Jinfang Xiong
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  5. Haitao Shi
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  6. Jichao Wang
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Contributions

Li Jian and Ting Zhang: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing-original draft. Liu Lin: formal analysis, writing-review and editing. Jinfang Xiong: investigation, methodology. Haitao Shi: conceptualization, formal analysis. Jichao Wang: conceptualization, writing-review and editing.

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Correspondence to Jichao Wang.

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Jian, L., Zhang, T., Lin, L. et al. Transfer and accumulation of trace elements in seawater, sediments, green turtle forage, and eggshells in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 50832–50844 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19354-0

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