Can we adopt sea sponges as reliable indicators of aquatic pollution?

Nkopuyo, Sunday; Chidugu-Ogborigbo, Racheal; Newton, Lyn; Honeychurch, Kevin

Abstract

Toxic chemical cocktails in aquatic ecosystems exist in various
environmental matrices (water column, sediment, and biota) Therefore, each of these matrices can indicate pollution in an aquatic ecosystem

Aquatic biota as indicators has an advantage over other indicators because aquatic biota provides information on total bioavailable pollutants required to assess the actual risks posed by different pollutants on indigenous species

Sessile benthic biotas have begun to gain significant recognition as bio monitors and bioindicators of pollutants in the aquatic environment and are also used to model biochemical processes in higher organisms

Several studies have investigated the concentration of pollutants in the environmental matrices However, pollutants levels do not necessarily imply adverse health effects, hence the imperativeness of assessing pollution biomarkers such as DNA damage in indigenous species such as sea sponges

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Start Date: Apr 4, 2022
• End Date: Apr 6, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 3, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 4, 2022
• Keywords: sea sponges; aquatic pollution; ocean; pollution; marine life; environment
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9669862