Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

FIRST RECORD OF HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN THENATURAL HABITAT OF SILKWORMS, RIAU PROVINCE, INDONESIA

B. Budijono, Muhammad Hasbi and YudhoHarjoyudanto

Abstract

Silkworms (Tubifex spp.) obtained from contaminated habitats are used as live food by fish culture expertsin Riau Province. The main supply of these worms comes from the Sail River in the middle of PekanbaruCity and has received a lot of organic and inorganic waste such as heavy metals from domestic activitiesand the city’s economy. Heavy metal content in this worm habitat is almost limited to be investigated toanswer the possibility of fish mortality by fish farmers in the future. This study aims to investigate thequality conditions, presence of heavy metals in water, sediment, and bioaccumulation in these silkwormsfrom three worm collection centers. Research data revealed that the presence of heavy metals in water withthe largest to the smallest concentration order is Zn> Pb> Fe> Cr> Cu> Cd and the highest concentration inZn ranges from 0.6364 ± 0.14 to 1.6738 ± 0.16 mgl-1 and the lowest at Cd between 0.007 ± 0.003 to 0.0178 ±0.005 mgl-1. This metal is also found in sediments with the largest to the smallest concentration of Zn> Fe>Cr> Cu> Pb> Cd with Zn being the highest ranging from 63.8896 ± 1.23 to 121.1536 ± 1.31 mg kg-1 and thelowest is Cd ranging 0.4642 ± 0.14 to 0.9618 ± 0.11 mg kg-1. The concentration of heavy metals in worms ishigher, especially essential heavy metals than in water and sediment with the order Zn> Fe> Cu> Cr> Pb>Cd and their respective concentration ranges are Zn 84.5556 ± 1.50 to 92.8354 ± 1.70 mg kg-1, Fe 41.0664 ±2.78 to 61.3076 ± 2.42 mg kg-1, Cu 6.8536 ± 0.58 to 15.7204 ± 0.46 mg kg-1, Cr 4.4846 ± 0.39 to 8.9826 ± 0.41mg kg -1, Cd 0.4148 ± 0.12 to 1.9784 ± 0.13 mg kg-1 and Cd 0.4148 ± 0.12 to 1.9784 ± 0.13 mg kg-1. The BAFvalue shows that the highest accumulation of heavy metals into the body of silkworms comes from wateras compared to sediment at all locations. This study shows that the worms and the natural habitat theycollect are contaminated with heavy metals, but are still suitable as live food in fish hatcheries.