Assessment of heavy metals pollution in muscle of sole (Cynoglossus arel), spiny lobster (Panulirus homarus) and sediments in the northern coasts of the Oman Sea during pre and post monsoon

Concentrations of lead, copper, cadmium, and mercury were determined in sediments and two selected marine organisms (Cynoglossus arel and Panulirus homarus) collected from Jask Port, Darak Port, Pozm Port, Gulf of Chabahar and Gowatr Port in the north coasts of the Oman Sea during pre (spring) and post (autumn) monsoon in 2017. Heavy metals concentrations were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results showed that there are statistically significant differences between studies concentrations in sediments during pre and post-monsoon at sample locations (p<0.05). Analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in the muscle of C. arel and P. homarus in pre and post-monsoon between the different sites (p<0.05), except for copper in the muscle of P. homarus in the post-monsoon (p>0.05). In sediments and muscle of C. arel and P. homarus the trend in the mean metal concentrations was: Cu> Pb> Cd> Hg; Cu> Pb> Cd> Hg and Cu> Hg=Pb> Cd, respectively. Also, the trend in the mean metal concentrations in the samples was sediment > P. homarus> C. arel. However, paired t-test analysis for comparing heavy metal concentration in pre and post-monsoon showed only a significant difference for cadmium in the muscle of P. homarus (p<0.01). Totally, by comparing the results obtained from this study indicated that the accumulation of lead, copper, cadmium, and mercury in sediments and muscle C. arel and P. homarus at the Gulf of Chabahar and Jask Port is higher than other regions of the Iranian coasts along the Oman Sea which studied in current research.