Mercury contamination in Matang Mangrove Forest, Perak
We recently published a fascinating finding of the presence of mercury in Matang Mangrove Forest, the largest mangrove area in Malaysia covering more than 40,000 hectares in the state of Perak. This finding was published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials (2020) entitled Distribution of mercury in sediments, plant and animal tissues in Matang Mangrove Reserve, Malaysia’. This research is part of our collaboration with Universite Libre de Brusslles, Universiti Firenze Italy and Vrije Universite Bruselles.
Mangrove ecosystems receive waste from domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors that may contain Hg pollution. Meanwhile, the charcoal production adjacent to mangroves also emit volatile compounds like Hg back into the ambient environment. Being the fact that Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve (MMFR) in Sate Perak, Peninsular Malaysia is under silvicultural management for Rhizophora poles/charcoal production (since 1902), the present study observed [Hg] in plant and animal tissues, including surface sediments.
These are some of the highlights from the research finding;
- The study suggests that Rhizophora roots allow no/limited uptake and translocation of [Hg] into the plant’s body.
- Higher [Hg] in leaves was due to atmospheric deposition
- Mangrove sediments in the MMFR are still unpolluted with reference to [Hg].
- Mangrove cockles from Kuala Sepetang also indicated no human health risk in term of [Hg].
