Musgos reófilos indicadores de contaminación de agua por metales pesados en el río Zamora de la ciudad de Loja

Abstract

Abstract: The water contamination is the main environmental problem in many cities of the world, due to anthropogenic activities, that generate toxic substances as such heavy metals. The rheophilic mosses, due to their peculiar morphological and physiological characteristics are useful indicators of a wide range of contaminants (e.g. heavy metals). We determined the water contamination by heavy metals with a passive biomonitoring system in 12 localities distributed in 4 zones along the Zamora River in the city of Loja. We evaluated the accumulation of 16 heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Zn, Fe, K, Ca, Na, Mn, V, Co, Ba, Cr, Al, Sr, As, Mg) in samples of the rheophilic moss Platyhypnidium aquaticum. Our results showed that the southern, central and northern zones register higher levels of concentration by heavy metals (Iron, Potassium, Manganese, Aluminum, Magnesian), related with residual discharges and lack of a treatment system, in comparison with the control zone that registered low concentrations. We conclude that passive biomonitoring with Platyhypnidium aquaticum can be a simple way to obtain reliable data of the current state of water contamination by heavy metals.