ABSTRACT
Chemical pollutants present a substantial threat to the survival of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). In this study, the concentrations of 12 trace elements (TEs) in seawater, sediments, and green turtle forage and eggshells from the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, along with their patterns of transfer and accumulation, were identified. The results revealed that the median TE concentrations in seawater and sediments were lower than the first-grade limit values of the national standard in China, indicating a low ecological risk. The concentrations (µg·g-1) of TEs in forage ranged from 0.05-0.69, 3.43-14.4, 157-2391, 27.9-124, 2.05-9.39, 0.30-9.78, 2.01-80.50, 0.18-5.76, 0.06-0.98, 2.00-18.4, 0.02-0.24, and 0.01-0.09 for Cr, Mn, Sr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Cd, As, Pb, and Hg, respectively. Seawater, sediments, turtle forage, and eggshells exhibited different TE profiles, which were driven by Hg, Sr, Cr, and Pb in seawater and sediments; Fe and Ni in sediments; Cd and As in forage; and Zn, Se, and Cu in eggshells. The contents of Cu, Zn, and Se increased slightly with trophic level, indicating that they were transferred through dietary pathways. Although Cd and As appeared to bioaccumulate in green turtle forage, it was not transferred to their eggshells, which may be related to the excretion and metabolism process in the mother's body. Thus, eggshells may be a poor bioindicator for the exposure of female green turtles to these toxic elements.
Subject(s)
Mercury , Metals, Heavy , Trace Elements , Turtles , Water Pollutants, Chemical , Animals , Cadmium/metabolism , China , Egg Shell/chemistry , Environmental Monitoring , Female , Geologic Sediments/chemistry , Lead/metabolism , Mercury/metabolism , Metals, Heavy/analysis , Seawater/chemistry , Trace Elements/analysis , Turtles/metabolism , Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysisABSTRACT
Eucommia ulmodies Oliver (E. ulmodies) has been used as herbal medicine for thousands years in China. The selection of the control substances and their fingerprints of this plant medicine were investigated by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The gradient elution mode was applied in chromatographic separation, and the data was analyzed by "Computer Aided Similarity Evaluation" software to compare the similarity of the E. ulmodies from different habitats. Low similarity was found in the samples from nonadjacent provinces, while high similarity was obtained in those from the adjacent provinces. The LC-MS fingerprints of E. ulmodies showed the main active constituents and could be used for its original identification and quality evaluation.
