Evaluation of Heavy Metals and Metalloid Accumulation in a Small-Scale Aquaponic System and an Effect on Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance
type: CreativeWork
description: Aquaponics is an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology that holds promise to promote global food production. However, in aquaponics, routine fish feeding, along with the natural phenomena of evaporation and transpiration from the water and plants, could lead to deterioration of water quality of the system and may concentrate organic and inorganic pollutants such as heavy metals (HMs). Aquaponics might present food safety hazards to consumers if they consume food that exceeds maximum allowable limits (MAL) of contaminants and toxins in food and feed set by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO). This work evaluated the presence, diversity, distribution, and accumulation of artificially elevated toxic metalloids and heavy metals (HMs) (arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb)) after inoculating them into aquaponics water at levels of 20%, 15%, 1.0%, and 1.0%, respectively, of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (U.S EPA) standards that dictate the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for drinking water. Work determined the concentrations, distribution, and the fractions of the applied HMs in the water, fish, plant, and sediment. The potential effect of the HMs accumulation on co-selection for bacterial antibiotic resistance (BAR) to ampicillin and tetracycline was also evaluated, and the effect of the HMs on the growth of lettuce, evaluated by root and shoot (edible leaves) elongation was also investigated. The HMs concentration in the aquaponics water over time were not consistent. In general, only As accumulated in the water (P<0.05), but none of the applied metals exceeded the MCL. The accumulation of As in the aquaponics water may have been due to concentrations of As in fish feed. By the end of the study period (35 days), Hg and Pb tended to bioaccumulate significantly (P<0.05) in the fish tissue (wet weight), though both were below the MAL. The root data showed significant (P>0.…
abstract: Aquaponics is an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology that holds promise to promote global food production. However, in aquaponics, routine fish feeding, along with the natural phenomena of evaporation and transpiration from the water and plants, could lead to deterioration of water quality of the system and may concentrate organic and inorganic pollutants such as heavy metals (HMs). Aquaponics might present food safety hazards to consumers if they consume food that exceeds maximum allowable limits (MAL) of contaminants and toxins in food and feed set by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO). This work evaluated the presence, diversity, distribution, and accumulation of artificially elevated toxic metalloids and heavy metals (HMs) (arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb)) after inoculating them into aquaponics water at levels of 20%, 15%, 1.0%, and 1.0%, respectively, of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (U.S EPA) standards that dictate the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for drinking water. Work determined the concentrations, distribution, and the fractions of the applied HMs in the water, fish, plant, and sediment. The potential effect of the HMs accumulation on co-selection for bacterial antibiotic resistance (BAR) to ampicillin and tetracycline was also evaluated, and the effect of the HMs on the growth of lettuce, evaluated by root and shoot (edible leaves) elongation was also investigated. The HMs concentration in the aquaponics water over time were not consistent. In general, only As accumulated in the water (P<0.05), but none of the applied metals exceeded the MCL. The accumulation of As in the aquaponics water may have been due to concentrations of As in fish feed. By the end of the study period (35 days), Hg and Pb tended to bioaccumulate significantly (P<0.05) in the fish tissue (wet weight), though both were below the MAL. The root data showed significant (P>0.…
author: Almotairy, Hany Mohammad
language: en
keywords: Antibiotic resistance, Aquaculture, Aquaponic, Bacteria, Heavy metals, Hydroponic
date published: 2019
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:55:47Z
provider: University of Arizona
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Arizona.

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/633077