Marine Pollution and Control

VAB 4433

Lesson - 2
Dr Wesam Al Madhoun
Re-cap from previous sessions

• Introduction to Marine Pollution

• Impact of project implementation –

Case study 1 – 2nd Bridge, Penang
Case study 2 – Power Plant, Melaka
 Marine Pollution and Control
- Measuring Change -
LO1 - Describe composition of sea water and
its important chemical processes

LO4 - Perform routine laboratory sampling,

storing and analyzing of sea water

LO5 - Assess marine pollution propagation

mechanism
Measuring Change
 Unit objectives
• To understand the importance of measuring
changes in seas and estuaries.

• To identify and interpret different units and

methods for measuring changes.

• To appreciate sub-lethal effect and responses

• To describe scope for growth and population

change
 Introduction
• Any material discharged into the sea inevitably
causes some change in the environment.
Individual level  Population  Community

• The change may be great or small, long-lasting or

transient, wide spread or extremely localized.

• Much effort is devoted to measuring the level of

contamination of sediments and organisms by
chemical analysis, but to determine if the
observed level of contamination causes pollution
generally requires a study of its biological effects.
Impact on the
Individual
 Measurement of toxicity
• Toxicity states how poisonous a substance is or how
large a dose is required to kill an organisms. The
more toxic the substance the smaller the lethal dose.

• If a sample of aquatic animals is exposed to a toxin,

not all die at the same time. Instead, mortality shows
a sigmoid relationship to the period of exposure.

• The median lethal time is the time for the death of

50% of a sample and is written LT50 or LTm .

• The median lethal concentration is the

concentration of toxin at which 50% of a sample are
killed within a specified time, eg. 96 h LC50
 10-2 M
10-2 M
10-3 M
10-3 M

10-4 M

50%
50%mortality
mortality

10-5 M

Cumulative percentage mortality of mussels, Mytilus in

different concentration of zinc sulphate
 Antagonism and Synergy

• The addition of one mortality to another

• The mortality caused by one includes that

caused by the other

• One increases the mortality caused by the

other (synergy)

• One reduces the mortality caused by the

other (antagonism)
 Example 1:

The result of an experiment in which the ciliate protozoan

was exposed to zinc, mercury and lead salt is as follow:

• 0.005 ppm mercuric chloride reduces growth by 12.1%.

• 0.3 ppm lead nitrate causes 11.8% reduction, and
• 0.25 ppm zinc sulphate causes 14.2% reduction.

Calculate the combined effect of the three mentioned

salts.

Cell structure of an ciliophora: 1-

contractile vacuole, 2-digestive vacuole,
3-macronucleous, 4-micronucleous, 5-
cytoprocto, 6-cytopharynx, 7-cytostome,
8-cilium.
In fact, the combined
effect of three salts is
synergistic.
 Influence of
temperature and
salinity on the
240 h LC50 for
cadmium to the
fiddler crab Uca
pugilator

A synergistic effect is often noted in organisms exposed

to natural environmental stress as well as to a toxin.
 Example 2

The result in previous experiment shows, 0.0025 ppm

mercuric chloride causing 9.5% reduction in growth and
0.15 ppm lead nitrate causing 8.5% reduction in growth.
Calculate the percentage of reduction growth in
combination of two salts.
 Instead of synergetic effect,
the combined effects of two
salts are antagonistic.

A variety of antagonistic effects of multiple contaminants has

come to light. Well-known examples are selenium and
mercury and zinc and cadmium the first contaminants
reducing the effect of the second in each case.
 Just checking…

Antagonism effect due to

combination of several toxins
refers to:

a) The addition of one mortality to another, or

b) One reduces the mortality caused by the other, or
c) One increases the mortality caused by the other
 Sub-lethal effects

It is often possible to detect responses in

organisms to toxins at far lower
concentrations than those that kill them.

Sublethal responses vary widely, but may

include major physiological stress, tumors,
or developmental abnormalities that would
be likely to result in early death.
Erosion of fins (Video) pre-cancerous growth (papillomas-
Video) are commonly observed on flatfish living on very
contaminated sediment. It has been observed whether the
contaminant is sewage sludge, oil, or titanium dioxide
waste.

www.fishingmagic.com/news/
 The ingestion of crude oil by herring
gulls and some other seabirds causes
damage to the intestine and liver and
impairs the functioning of the nasal
salt glands.

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/zo501/question.htm
 Skeletal deformation are relatively
common in fish, particularly in those
from polluted waters. A variety of
toxins, including chlorinated
hydrocarbons, dispersed oils and
heavy metals are the causes.
Deformation of the
skeleton of a turbot
taken from polluted
www.answers.com/topic/myxobolus-cerebralis

waters
 Scope for growth

The scope of growth is the difference

between the energy assimilated from food,
and the energy used in respiration,
excretion, and other maintenance activities.

• Any surplus energy is available for growth and

reproduction

• A reduced or even negative scope of growth

results when the energy intake from food is
reduced or if energy expenditure on maintenance
activities is increased by environmental stress.
Population
Change
• When pollution cause the death of
microorganism, what matters is not the initial
mortality, but the number and fate of
survivors.

• Population changes in particular species

have some impact on the community of which
they are a part and the pollution impact may
be measured at the level of populations or
communities.
 Key species
• The presence or absence of these indicators
may provide a warning signal of the existence of
pollution effects.

 Those of high conservation interest.

 Species of commercial value and under
cultivation.
 Key species whose presence or absence in
certain environments has major repercussions in
the community.
 Indicator species, known to be particularly
resistant or particularly sensitive to pollutants.
Community
Response
• A more realistic approach than the study of the fate of
selected species is to examine the response of the
whole community.

• Community studies involve taking samples of

organisms from polluted and control sites, identifying
and enumerating the species and then analyzing the
resulting data to determine if significant changes
have occurred in the stressed system.

• Identification of all the species is time consuming, but

for the purpose of detecting pollution impact,
identification to higher taxon maybe adequate.

• The data may be analyzed by univariate, graphic or

multivariate methods.
What response would you expect?
• Univariate analysis gives indices of diversity,
dominance, etc.

• Graphical methods give visual representation

of community response.

• Multivariate analysis includes cluster analysis

and principal components analysis and
require computer analysis.
Any question ??
An Experiment with Mussels:

Harbour water from Juist is filled in

two glasses. In the right one, a
handful of mussels are placed. The
left glass is used as comparison.

After an hour, the mussels have

filtered the water so that it becomes
transparent. Reference: Aldebaran
(1997).
Video
What we have learned today?

LO1 - Describe composition of sea water

and its important chemical processes

LO4 - About routine laboratory sampling,

storing and analyzing of sea water

LO5 - Assess marine pollution propagation

mechanism
Quick exercise…