Indicator bacteria community in seawater and coastal sediment: the Persian Gulf as a case.

BACKGROUND: The aim of present work was to assess the concentration levels as well as vertical distribution of indicator bacteria including total coliform, fecal coliform, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) in the marine environment (seawater and coastal sediments) and evaluate the correlation between indicator bacteria and some physicochemical parameters of surface sediments as well as seawaters. METHODS: A total number of 48 seawater and sediment samples were taken from 8 stations (each site 6 times with an interval time of 2 weeks) between June and September 2014. Seawater and sediment samples were collected from 30 cm under the surface samples and different sediment depths (0, 4, 7, 10, 15, and 20 cm) respectively, along the Persian Gulf in Bushehr coastal areas. RESULTS: Based on the results, the average numbers of bacterial indicators including total coliform, fecal coliform, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as HPC in seawater samples were 1238.13, 150.87, 8.22 MPN/100 ml and 1742.91 CFU/ml, respectively, and in sediment samples at different depths (from 0-20 cm) varied between 25 × 103 to 51.67 × 103, 5.63 × 103 to 12.46 × 103, 17.33 to 65 MPN/100 ml, 36 × 103 to 147.5 × 103 CFU/ml, respectively. There were no statistically significant relationships between the indicator organism concentration levels with temperature as well as pH value of seawater. A reverse correlation was found between the level of indicator bacteria and salinity of seawater samples. Also results revealed that the sediment texture influenced abundance of indicators bacteria in sediments. As the concentration levels of indicators bacteria were higher in muddy sediments compare with sandy ones. CONCLUSION: Result conducted Bushehr coastal sediments constitute a reservoir of indicator bacteria, therefore, whole of the indicators determined were distinguished to be present in higher levels in sediments than in the overlying seawater. It was concluded that the concentration levels of microbial indicators decreased with depth in sediments. Except total coliform, the numbers of other bacteria including fecal coliform, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and HPC bacteria significantly declined in the depth between 10 and 15 cm.

Self-purification of marine environments for heavy metals: a study on removal of lead(II) and copper(II) by cuttlebone.

The aim of this study was to determine adsorption properties of cuttlebone, cuttlefish bone as dead biomass, for lead(II) and copper(II) from aqueous solutions. Adsorption kinetic, isotherm and effect of pH (in the range of 2.0-7.0) were investigated in a single component batch system at room temperature (25 ± 1 °C). The heavy metal adsorption by cuttlebone was relatively rapid and reached equilibrium in 120 min in all the cases. The pseudo-second order rate equation described the adsorption kinetic of both the ions. The adsorption capacities of Pb2+ and Cu2+ were constantly increased by pH and the optimum condition of pH was determined to be 7.0. The Freundlich model was better fitted than other models with the isotherm data, indicating sorption of the metal ions in a heterogeneous surface. According to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacities of cuttlebone for Pb2+ and Cu2+ were determined to be 45.9 and 39.9 mg/g, respectively. The results indicated cuttlebone as a promising adsorbent for Pb2+ and Cu2+, which presents a high capacity of self-purification in marine environments and also can be used for removal of the metal ions from water and wastewater.

Data on Fe (II) biosorption onto Sargassum hystrix algae obtained from the Persian Gulf in Bushehr Port, Iran.

In this article, we used Sargassum hystrix algae as biosorbent for removal of Fe (II) from aqueous solutions that was collected along the Persian Gulf coastline, Bushehr, Iran. The concentration level of remaining Fe (II) in the samples was measured by using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS, Varian AA240, Australia). The isotherms, kinetics and modeling data of Fe (II) biosorption onto Sargassum hystrix were also presented.

Data on daily fluoride intake based on drinking water consumption prepared by household desalinators working by reverse osmosis process.

In this data article, we evaluated the daily fluoride contents in 20 household desalinators working by reverse osmosis (RO) process in Bushehr, Iran. The concentration levels of fluoride in inlet and outlet waters were determined by the standard SPADNS method using a spectrophotometer (M501 Single Beam Scanning UV/VIS, UK). The fluoride content in outlet waters were compared with EPA and WHO guidelines for drinking water.

Data on heavy metals and selected anions in the Persian popular herbal distillates.

In this data article, we determined the concentration levels of heavy metals including Pb, Co, Cd, Mn, Mg, Fe and Cu as well as selected anions including [Formula: see text] , [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] in the most used and popular herbal distillates in Iran. It is well known that heavy metals may pose a serious health hazard due to their bioaccumulation throughout the trophic chain ("Heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb) content in two fish species of Persian Gulf in Bushehr Port, Iran" (Dobaradaran et al., 2013) [1]; "Comparative investigation of heavy metal, trace, and macro element contents in commercially valuable fish species harvested off from the Persian Gulf" (Abadi et al., 2015) [2]) as well as some other environmental pollutions, "Assessment of sediment quality based on acid-volatile sulfide and simultaneously extracted metals in heavily industrialized area of Asaluyeh, Persian Gulf: concentrations, spatial distributions, and sediment bioavailability/toxicity" (Arfaeinia et al., 2016) [3]. The concentration levels of heavy metals and anions in herbal distillates samples were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS, Varian AA240, Australia) and a spectrophotometer (M501 Single Beam Scanning UV/VIS, UK) respectively.