Heavy metal pollution monitoring at King Sejong Station, King George Island, Antarctica

Abstract

The coastal environment of King George Island is potentially subject to contamination by pollutants arising from station operations, such as emissions from fossil fuel burning, oil spills, waste disposal, etc. As a preparatory step to assess such impacts on the marine environment and living organisms of this island, two molluscan species (the bivalve Laternula elliptica and the gastropod Nacella concinna) were selected as biomonitors for metal pollution monitoring, and their baseline levels have been investigated for the past several years at King Sejong Station. In this review, variability of the baseline levels is discussed in relation to body size, tissue type, and sex. Natural elevations of some metals are also discussed with respect to the environmental characteristics of this region.