The skin of Commerson's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) as a biomonitor of mercury and selenium in Subantarctic waters

CÁCERES SAEZ, I.; GOODALL, R.N.P.; DELLABIANCA, N.; CAPPOZZO, L.; RIBEIRO GUEVARA, S.

CHEMOSPHERE

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2015 vol. 138 p. 735 - 743

0045-6535

The skin of bycaught Commerson?s dolphins was tested for mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) biomonitoring in Subantarctic environments. The correlation of levels detected in the skin with those found in internal tissues ? lung, liver, kidney and muscle ? was assessed to evaluate how skin represents internal Hg and Se distribution for monitoring purposes. Mercury in skin had a concentration range of 0.68?3.11 lg g1 dry weight (DW), while Se had a higher concentration range of 74.3?124.5 lg g1 DW.There was no significant correlation between selenium levels in any of the analyzed tissues. Thus, the skin selenium concentration did not reflect the tissular Se levels and did not provide information forbiomonitoring. The lack of correlation is explained by the biological role of Se, provided that each tissue regulates Se levels according to physiological needs. However, the skin Hg level had significant positivecorrelation with the levels in internal tissues (ANOVA p < 0.05), particularly with that of muscle (R2 = 0.79; ANOVA p = 0.0008). Thus, this correlation permits the estimation of Hg content in musclebased on the multiplication of skin biopsy levels by a factor of 1.85. Mercury bioindication using skin biopsies is a non-lethal approach that allows screening of a large number of specimens with littledisturbance and makes possible an adequate sampling strategy that produces statistically valid resultsin populations and study areas. The correlation between Hg levels in the skin and internal tissuessupports the use of the epidermis of Commerson?s dolphins for Hg biomonitoring in the waters of the Subantarctic, which is a poorly studied region regarding Hg levels, sources and processes.