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Heavy metal concentrations in Caspian pond turtle (Mauremys caspica) in Zarivar International Wetland, Kurdistan Province of Iran

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Abstract

In the present study, the cadmium, lead, and zinc levels in the blood and shell of Caspian pond turtles (Mauremys caspica) were investigated at five stations in Zarivar International Wetland in Kurdistan Province. All specimens were released at their capture locations within 2 h of capture. Water samples were collected at each station. Heavy metal concentrations were determined using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The mean cadmium, lead, and zinc concentrations were 0.04, 32.10, and 11.45 mg/l in blood samples; 1.82, 16.91, and 89.22 mg/l in shell samples; 0.005, 1.30, and 0.07 mg/l in water samples, respectively. In this study, the highest metal adsorption was zinc and was observed in shell. According to the results of this study, the shell of the Caspian Pond Turtle can be used to estimate the concentration of heavy metals. Our results suggest that Caspian pond turtle can be used as a biological indicator to estimate heavy metals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Amir Rostami and Masood Mostafa Soltani for their assistance with the blood sampling and Ataolah Tarank, Madeh Hoseini, Salah Dehghani, Fatah Boutimar, Abed Daneshvar, Kamal Rastkhaneh for their assistance with the field surveys. We are grateful to Houshyar Gavilian for his help with conducting the trace elements analysis. We would like to express our gratitude to Semko Azimi, Seyvan Amini, Sharif Bajour, and his wife for their assistance during the fieldwork.

Funding

This work was financially supported by University of Kurdistan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran

    Elham Moradi, Hanyeh Ghafari & Farshid Ghorbani

  2. Department of Zrebar Lake Environmental Research, Kurdistan Studies Institute, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

    Hanyeh Ghafari & Farshid Ghorbani

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  1. Elham Moradi
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  3. Farshid Ghorbani
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Contributions

All the authors carried out the study conception, design, and material preparation. Elham Moradi collected the data. Elham Moradi and Hanyeh Ghaffari wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and all the authors provided comments on previous versions. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hanyeh Ghafari.

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Moradi, E., Ghafari, H. & Ghorbani, F. Heavy metal concentrations in Caspian pond turtle (Mauremys caspica) in Zarivar International Wetland, Kurdistan Province of Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 89691–89697 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22056-2

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