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Abstract :
[en] The Mediterranean Sea is an enclosed basin, highly submitted to anthropogenic pressures. Chemical pollution from coastal urban centres and industries, or carried by air and rivers, primarily affects its coastal ecosystems. Pollution by trace elements is rapidly evolving further to the recent modifications of their production and industrial uses by men. As a result, certain trace elements can now be considered as new environmental pollutants. Appropriate bioindicators are useful tools for the early warning of marine pollution. We presently investigate the use of the purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and the marine phanerogam Posidonia oceanica as bioindicators to monitor the Mediterranean coastal pollution by new trace pollutants (Be, V, Mo, Mn, PGEs, Ag, Al, As, Se, Sb and Bi). Classic trace metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni, Sn, Pb, Co and Fe) are also studied. Organisms were seasonally collected in 2008 in a reference site and a polluted one, respectively Calvi bay (Corsica) and Marseille (France). Their tissular trace element concentrations were determined by ICP-MS. All the investigated trace elements were chosen for their potential toxic effects.
Name of the research project :
Evolution of the pollution by trace elements into the marine environment further to the recent modifications of their production and use by men: case of the Western Mediterranean Sea