M Golam Mortuza and Fahad A Al-Misned
The study was conducted to assess heavy metals concentrations in water, sediment and white shrimp (Liptopenaeus vannamei) of Red Sea, Jizan, Saudi Arabia, using ICP-MS. The concentrations of heavy metals in water were above the recommended drinking water standards setup by the WHO/USEPA (World Health Organization/United States Environmental Protection Agency). However the concentrations of heavy metals in sediment and white leg shrimp were lower than the recommended levels proposed by WHO/USEPA, except Cr level in shrimp muscle. The level of contamination degree (Cd) and modified contamination degree (mCd) indicated ‘low’ and ‘very low’ degree of contamination respectively. Pollution load index (PLI) of the studied area was lower than unity, indicated no pollution. Furthermore, a toxic response factor was applied to determine the potential ecological risk index (RI) of these heavy metals into the water body. The results of this study exhibited a low potential ecological risk of heavy metals.
