Using algae and brine shrimp as food chain model for bioaccumulation and biomagnification of lead and cadmium

Bioaccumulation and biomagnification of heavy metals occur constantly in the aquatic environment. Therefore, this study aimed to simulate the environment in the laboratory conditions and study the amount of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) accumulation in two types of algae microalgae Dunaliella salina and Tetraselmis suecica. These algae were exposed to metals for a short duration of 21 days. After this period, they used these algae as food for Artemia salina (brine shrimp). The results showed that Pb was bio-accumulated in D. salina, between 12.65 and 1262 ppm, respectively, when exposed to a concentration of 50 and 1500 ppm., while the T. suecica was bio-accumulated Pb at a concentration of 20 and 1363 ppm when exposed to the same concentrations respectively. Also, Cd bio-accumulated in D. salina between 9.99 and 1148 ppm, while bioaccumulated Cd in T. suecica at a concentration of 10.71 and 1110.8 ppm, respectively, while when Artemia feed on algae (D. salina and T. suecica), that accumulated Pb and Cd after 21 days. The high biomagnification of Artemia for Pb (688.56 ppm) and the high bio-magnification of Artemia for Cd (700.99 ppm) when using D. salina as food. There are many environmental studies on the transfer of pollutants, especially heavy metals, in the food chain, but this study is one of the few studies that simulate the aquatic environment under controlled laboratory conditions for the accumulation of heavy metals in the food chain while minimizing the influence of interactions from other influences.