Bin Ali, A.N.

Bin Fisol, M.A.

Dahdouh-Guebas, F.

Gonnelli, C.

Le, D.Q.

Saliu, I.S.

Satyanarayana, B.

Siau, Y.F.

Wolswijk, G.

Open Marine Archive

33 
Oral presentation Pre-doc level 
Mangroves, charcoal production and mercury pollution in Matang 
Mangrove Forest Reserve, Malaysia  
Wolswijk Giovanna1, Satyanarayana Behara2,1, Le Dung Quang2, Siau Yin Fui2, Bin Ali Ahmad 
Nazila2, Saliu Ibrahim Sunkanmi1, Bin Fisol Muhammad Amir2, Gonnelli Cristina3 and 
Dahdouh-Guebas Farid1,4 
1  Université Libre de Bruxelles, Laboratoire d'Écologie des Systèmes et Gestion des Ressources 
(ULB), Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, CP 169, 1050 Brussel, Belgium 
 E-mail: giovannawolswijk@gmail.com  
2  Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS) 
3  Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Biologia (UNIFI), Via Madonna del Piano 6, 
50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italia 
4  Mangrove Management Group (VUB-MMG), c/o Laboratory of General Botany and Nature 
Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium 
 
Estuary mangroves can act as an important sink for heavy metals via sediments and plant 
tissues. Among the heavy metals, mercury (Hg) is one of the most hazardous, due to its high 
toxicity, mobility and long persistence in the environment (Pirrone et al., 2010). Globally, the 
problem of Hg emission is of great concern for human health due to the increase of 
anthropogenic activities. In this work, we studied the Hg distribution in Matang Mangrove Forest 
Reserve (MMFR) in Malaysia to assess whether charcoal production and increasing human 
activities in the vicinity can raise the Hg pollution and consequently risk to the environment and 
humans. Limitations such as no regular monitoring on metal concentration and very few 
scientific studies on Hg at MMFR, makes the present study highly relevant.  
 
The main objectives are to evaluate Hg pollution level in different mangrove plant tissues and 
surface sediments and investigate if there is any concentration gradient from plausible point 
sources to the river mouth. To achieve this result, we sampled leaves (in four stages – young, 
mature, senescent and decomposing), bark and roots of the dominant species Rhizophora 
apiculata (Blume) for up- and midstream sampling sites and of Rhizophora mucronata (Lamk.) 
for two downstream locations; sediments from both the river bank and the inside of the forest; 
gastropods of the species Cassidula aurisfelis (Bruguiere) and cockles of the species Anadara 
granosa (Lamk.). Sample preparation was done by freeze-drying and grinding the samples to 
fine powder with mortar and pestle.  
 
The concentration of Hg in each sample was detected using a mercury analyzer MA3000 (Nippon 
Instruments Corporation, Japan). Among the plant tissues, leaves showed relevant Hg 
concentration, ranging from (12.9±3.8) µg/Kg to (30.3±6.4) µg/Kg for mature leaves and from 
(31.3±3.9) µg/Kg to (42.6±7.4) µg/Kg for senescent and decomposing leaves, from which we might 
suggest a major influence of atmospheric deposition instead of water flow on the input of Hg. 
Geo-accumulation index calculated from the sediment data shows that all sites can be 
considered as unpolluted, indicating limited impact on Hg pollution from the human activities 
upstream, resulting also in safe consumption for cockles cultured in the estuary (being the 
measured Hg values below the permissible limit of 500 µg/Kg according to EC regulation no. 
466/2001).  
 
Perhaps future scientific investigation like detailed analysis of the smoke composition from the 
charcoal factories and analysis on other heavy metals in the mangroves might be able to 
provide more insights on the environmental impact(s) of charcoal production in the nearby 
area. 
 
34 
References 
- EC. 2001. Commission regulation no. 466/2001. Ec. 2000. “COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 
466/2001. Official Journal of the European Communities L 269. March 2001: 1-15. 
- Pirrone, N., Cinnirella, S., Feng, X., Finkelman, R. B., Friedli, H. R., Leaner, J., Telmer, K. 2010. 
Global mercury emissions to the atmosphere from anthropogenic and natural sources. — 
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 10(13), 5951–5964. 
 
Keywords: Sediment; Biota; Health risk; Rhizophora 
  


Mangroves, charcoal production and mercury pollution in Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve, Malaysia

Mangroves, charcoal production and mercury pollution in Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve, Malaysia

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