<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US">Assessment of heavy metals by ligand-less cloud point extraction in sediment and <i>Holothuria parva </i>(Echinodermata, Holothuroidea) </span>

Abstract

The concentrations of heavy metals were determined in organs of <i>Holothuria parva </i>and sediment from three stations in the Qeshm, Iran. A ligand-less Cloud Point Extraction (CPE) procedure was used for preconcentration of trace metals as pretreatment step to determination of lead and cadmium by Graphite Furnace Atomic absorption Spectrometry (GFAAS). Concentration of heavy metals in body wall, gut and sediment were obtained 14.05, 5.72 and 41.66 µg/g for lead and 0.722, 0.493 and 3.27 µg/g for cadmium, respectively. Limit of detection (LOD) values of lead and cadmium were 0.037 and 0.028 µg/g, respectively. Relative standard deviation (RSD) for six replicate determinations of lead and cadmium were 2.68% and 1.20%, respectively. Concentrations of lead and cadmium in sediments and organs of sea cucumbers

differed significantly, suggesting that this sea cucumber should not be considered as an ideal bioindicator of lead and cadmium pollutants in the sediment.