CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE ASSESSMENT OF METAL
CONTAMINATION IN SEDIMENTS OF CIENFUEGOS BAY, CUBA
Mirella Peña-Icarta,b; Carolina Mendiguchíab; Margarita Villanuevac; Carlos Alonsod;
Carlos Morenob; Mario Pomaresa
aInstitute
of Material Science and Technology (IMRE), University of Havana, Cuba. Zapata s/n CP: 10400.
mirella@imre.oc.uh.cu, mpomares@imre.oc.uh.cu
bFaculty of Marine Sciences and Environmental (CASEM), University of Cádiz, Spain. RepúblicaSaharaui
CP: 11510. carolina.mendiguchia@uca.es, carlos.moreno@uca.es
cFaculty of Chemistry, University of Havana, Cuba. Zapata s/n CP: 10400. villa@fq.uh.cu
dCienfuegos Environmental Study Center (CEAC), St. Castillo de Jagua, Km 1 ½. A.P. 5, Zip Code: 59350,
Cienfuegos City, Cuba. carlos@ceac.cu
So far, the evaluation of pollution by toxic metals in sediments of the Bay of Cienfuegos
has been evaluated by the total or pseudo total content (by applying methods of strong
partial digestion) of the elements of interest [1,2]. This partial content has been used as a
total or as the bioavailable fraction of metal. However, the indiscriminate use of these
methods can lead to incorrect environmental interpretations, because may
underestimate the total concentration, or overestimate the bioavailable concentration in
sediments. In this work, the authors propose a study of metal indicators of urban,
industrial and oil pollution through total and partial content (using a method that
simulates the gastrointestinal fish conditions (FGIC)) [3]. The total content of the metals
evaluated was similar to that found in previous campaigns (2009 and 2011). The
highest concentrations of metals indicators of human activities were found at sites near
of the City of Cienfuegos, the Fertilizer Industry, Oil Refinery and Thermoelectric
Station. The ratio V/Ni and V/(Ni + V) demonstrated the influence of the activities
related to the exploitation and utilization of oil and its derivatives, and the existence of
reducing conditions in sediments [4]. From the total concentration, Geoacumulación
Index (Igeo) was determined. As, Co, Cr and Ni have an Igeo< 0 for all samples and can
be classified as not contaminated sediments for these metals. However, for Cd, except
one sample, the rest show high levels of contamination. Comparing the total
concentrations and bioavailable (FGIC) with Sediment Quality Guidelines (NOAA) are
obtained that, total As, Cu and Cu are below the threshold level (PEL), while Cr and Zn
are between the TEL and ERL, and, and below TEL, respectively. Nevertheless, the
bioavailable concentration for As, Cd, Cr, Cu and Zn is not a real risk to biota because
they are below the TEL. Next, the concentration of these metals in tissues of fish that
inhabit the bay and that obtained from the method above-mentioned (FGIC) was
determined. Finally, different chemometric tools, including Principal Component
Analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA), were applied.
1
Peña-Icart et al., Marine EnvironmentalResearch 72 (2011) 60-66.
Perez Santana et al., Chemosphere 66 (2007) 1545–1553.
3
Peña Icart et al., Marine Pollution Bulletin 89 (2014) 67–74.
4
Peña-Icart et al., unpublished.
2