Heavy Metal Pollution in the Baltic Sea, from the North European Coast to the Baltic States, Finland and the Swedish Coastline to Norway
Title: Heavy metal pollution in the Baltic Sea, from the North European coast to the Baltic states, Finland and the Swedish coastline to Norway. Authors: Sergio Manzetti1,2* 1. Computational Ecotoxicology Group, Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala Biomedicinska Centrum BMC, Husarg. 3, Box 596, 751 24 Uppsala, Sweden. 2. Fjordforsk A/S, Bygdavegen 155, 6894 Vangsnes, Norway. 1 Abstract1 Environmental pollution and contamination is a continuous challenge that industrialized and developing countries are facing, affecting entire ecosystems, threatening biodiversity, reducing health and life quality of humans and contributing to the extinction of endangered species. The oceans and seas are the most vulnerable ecosystems to anthropogenic impacts, where heavy metals and other pollutants affect the viability of marine species. In this review, the focus is put on the widespread contamination of heavy metals on the Baltic sea and its marine ecosystems. Three parts are considered: the industrial sources of heavy metals in along the entire Baltic coast and in the Baltic sea, the levels and concentrations of heavy metals found in various phases of the environment (sediments, rivers, lakes and seas) and the accumulation of heavy metals in fish as well as avian species. The results from this review show that the heavy metal-releasing industries impact the marine environment for several decades, and that more efforts are required to restitute the Baltic sea to its original state. 1 Please cite as: Sergio Manzetti. 2020. Heavy metal pollution in the Baltic Sea, from the North European coast to the Baltic states, Finland and the Swedish coastline to Norway.
[Show full text]