Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Mazandaran, Iran.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Iran.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Jun 15;627:141-157. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.185. Epub 2018 Feb 3.
The coral reefs of the Persian Gulf are the most diverse systems of life in the marine environment of the Middle East. Unfortunately, they are highly threatened by local and global stressors, particularly oil pollutants. This is the first quantitative and qualitative study aimed at assessing the concentration and sources of n-alkanes and POPs (PAHs, PCBs and PCNs) in coral tissues, symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae), reef sediments and seawaters in coral reefs of Lark and Kharg in the Persian Gulf, Iran. This work was conducted on eight species of six genera and three families of hard corals and one family of soft coral. A significant variation in the concentration of ∑30n-alkanes and POPs (∑40PAHs, ∑22PCBs and 20PCNs) was found in the decreasing order: zooxanthellae > coral tissue > skeleton > reef sediment > seawater. The bioaccumulation of these compounds was 2-times higher in ahermatypic than in hermatypic corals, among which significant variations were observed in both sites. In Kharg, Porites lutea had the highest mean concentration of ∑30n-alkanes and ∑40PAHs in soft tissue, whereas the lowest values were in Platygyra daedalea. A contrasting trend was documented for ∑22PCBs and 20PCNs, with the highest level reported in soft tissue of P. daedalea and the lowest in P. lutea at Kharg. Compositional pattern of AHs and PAHs demonstrated the predominance of LMW-PAHs and n-alkanes. In skeleton and reef sediments, tetra, penta and tri-CBs were the most abundant PCBs congeners followed by di-CB > hexa-CB > hepta-CB > octa-CB,whiletri-CB > di-CB > tetra-CB > penta-CB > hexa-CB > hepta-CB > octa-CB was observed for soft tissue, zooxanthellae and seawater. The results of RAD test indicated significantly negative correlation between total concentration of these compounds with zooxanthellae density, the chlorophyll-a and C in corals at both reefs. This is the first report on levels, health assessment and source apportionments of POPs in zooxanthellae and a first step in the implementation of specific coral reef management measures.
波斯湾的珊瑚礁是中东海洋环境中生命多样性最高的系统。不幸的是，它们受到当地和全球压力源的严重威胁，特别是石油污染物。这是首次旨在评估伊朗波斯湾拉卡和哈尔格珊瑚礁中的珊瑚组织、共生藻类（虫黄藻）、珊瑚礁沉积物和海水中的 n-烷烃和持久性有机污染物（多环芳烃、多氯联苯和多氯萘）浓度和来源的定量和定性研究。这项工作是在六个属的八种硬珊瑚和一个软珊瑚科的三个科进行的。在∑30n-烷烃和 POPs（∑40 多环芳烃、∑22 多氯联苯和 20 多氯萘）的浓度方面发现了显著的变化，其顺序为：虫黄藻>珊瑚组织>骨骼>珊瑚礁沉积物>海水。无脊椎珊瑚体内这些化合物的生物累积量比有脊椎珊瑚高 2 倍，在这两个地点都观察到了显著的变化。在哈尔格，软珊瑚中的 Porites lutea 的∑30n-烷烃和∑40 多环芳烃的平均浓度最高，而 Platygyra daedalea 的浓度最低。∑22 多氯联苯和 20 多氯萘则记录到相反的趋势，在哈尔格的 P. daedalea 软组织中报告的水平最高，而在 P. lutea 中的水平最低。AHs 和 PAHs 的组成模式表明，低分子量多环芳烃和 n-烷烃占主导地位。在骨骼和珊瑚礁沉积物中，四氯、五氯和三氯联苯是最丰富的多氯联苯同系物，其次是二氯联苯>六氯联苯>七氯联苯>八氯联苯，而在软组织、虫黄藻和海水中则观察到三氯联苯>二氯联苯>四氯联苯>五氯联苯>六氯联苯>七氯联苯>八氯联苯。RAD 检验的结果表明，这两个珊瑚礁的虫黄藻密度、珊瑚中的叶绿素-a 和 C 与这些化合物的总浓度之间存在显著的负相关。这是首次报道虫黄藻和珊瑚中持久性有机污染物的水平、健康评估和来源分配，也是实施具体珊瑚礁管理措施的第一步。
