Perspective - (2023) Volume 9, Issue 1
Received: 02-Jan-2023, Manuscript No. IPBM-23-15708; Editor assigned: 04-Jan-2023, Pre QC No. IPBM-23-15708 (PQ); Reviewed: 18-Jan-2023, QC No. IPBM-23-15708; Revised: 23-Jan-2023, Manuscript No. IPBM-23-15708 (R); Published: 30-Jan-2023, DOI: 10.35841/2472-1646.23.09.003
Water pollution is a major issue in almost every part of the world. The river appears to function as a giant disposal container due to the complexity of anthropogenic activities along the watershed. The river is under threat of degradation, primarily as a result of heavy metal pollution caused by anthropogenic activities. Heavy metals become harmful when they pollute water bodies and biota because they are accumulative, toxic, and carcinogenic.
Several biomarkers for assessing heavy metal contamination in aquatic organisms have been widely reported. The use of molecular biomarkers has grown in popularity in recent years and continues to hold promise for the future. Proteomics and genomics have been expanded with technological methods such as DNA and RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Pollutants are a constant threat to aquatic systems, including rivers. Anthropogenic activities such as agricultural, industrial, mining, and domestic activities contribute to the contamination. Non-environmental development has the potential to disrupt the ecosystem, particularly rivers and the aquatic environment. Anthropogenic and polluting activities damage the river environment. Contamination in aquatic environments, such as rivers, is caused by effluent from various anthropogenic actions. Domestic and industrial toxic waste enters the waters untreated. Despite processing, the pollutant level still exceeds the established quality standard. Anthropogenic activity has an impact on water quality changes and aquatic biota. The majority of water pollution is caused by chemical pollutants such as fertiliser, pesticides, plastic, and heavy metals. Heavy metal pollutants can come from a variety of sources, including mining, agricultural activities, volcanic eruptions, industrial and metallurgical activities, fossil fuel combustion, and other types of waste disposal. Emerging and conventional pollutants are the two types of contaminants that enter water. Pesticides, insecticides, PAH, DDT, and household waste such as detergents are all examples of emerging pollutants. While nitrates, fluorides, and heavy metals such as As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn are common pollutants found in waters, Heavy metals are the most hazardous noxious waste in the environment. They are toxic, carcinogenic, and give animals bio accumulative and bio magnification effects. Furthermore, mercury, lead, and cadmium are the most toxic heavy metals and are difficult to degrade naturally. Heavy metals in water will accumulate in the tissues of aquatic biota. Furthermore, if the toxic concentration is reached, it will damage all biotic components and accumulate pollutants by organisms at various trophic levels throughout the food chain. Previous research has found heavy metal contamination in organisms such as plankton, benthos, fish, and humans. Itai-itai (Ouch-ouch) disease occurs in Toyama, Japan as a result of Cd contamination in humans. The disease causes bone softening, muscle contractions caused by calcium loss, severe pain, and respiratory distress due to renal tubular dysfunction. According to recent research, Cd enters the human body through foods derived from agriculture where the soil has been contaminated. Contamination (Ag, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in different trophic levels of waters, sediment, and biota.
Metals from food are simply absorbed by organisms in water and eventually accumulate in tissues such as the liver, kidneys, and reproductive organs. Chemicals in water enter autotrophic organisms’ tissues via direct absorption. Contaminants in fish can pass through the organism’s biological barrier from the surrounding environment via direct or indirect absorption, depending on the contact body area.
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The author’s declared that they have no conflict of interest.
Citation: Patrick H (2023) An Overview of Molecular Perspectives on Biomarkers for Monitoring Heavy Metal Pollution in Aquatic Environments. Biomark J. 9:002.
Copyright: © 2023 Patrick H. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
