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Evaluating river pollution in Iran: insights into sedimentary toxic metal levels and algae bioaccumulation

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Abstract

River toxic metal (TM) pollution is a serious challenge of present-day Iran, given that the majority of national developments are situated close to rivers. In this research, we measured and compared physicochemical quality properties, algae chlorophyll, carotenoid, and allophycocyanin contents, bioaccumulation factor (BAF), sediment quality indices, and the concentrations of Cd, As, and Pb in both sediment and algae samples across four seasons and at six reference stations along the Zayandeh-Rood River in Central Iran. The most abundant species were Spirogyra abbreviata, Spirogyra adnata, Characium acuminatum, and Navicula sp. The mean concentrations of TMs (mg/kg) were as follows: Pb(21.07) > As(5.46) > Cd(0.98) in sediment and Pb(25.99) > As(6.18) > Cd(0.85) in algae, revealing a similar pattern. The correlation coefficients between algae and sediment TMs were mostly positive with BAF > 1 which indicate the ecological implications of algae as bioaccumulators of these TMs. The lack of significant correlations between algae characteristics and the accumulation of TMs can be attributed to their threshold tolerance and the use of a multi-species analysis. Based on sediment quality indices, the river was identified as being highly polluted with Cd. This pollution can be traced back to the uneven distribution of various anthropogenic activities along the river's course, especially agricultural practices and steel manufacturing plants. As a result, there is a consistent but progressively increasing distribution and accumulation of TMs downstream. These findings emphasize the critical need for continuous monitoring of TMs in both sediment and algae to safeguard the health of the ecosystem.

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Data availability

The data sets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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  1. Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

    Masoumeh Koohi & Atefeh Chamani

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  1. Masoumeh Koohi
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M.K did Conceptualization, Methodology, Software and Atefeh Chamani did Data interpretation and wrote Original draft preparation.All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Atefeh Chamani.

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Koohi, M., Chamani, A. Evaluating river pollution in Iran: insights into sedimentary toxic metal levels and algae bioaccumulation. Environ Earth Sci 83, 155 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-024-11464-x

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