Metals in coastal zones impacted with urban and industrial wastes: Insights on the metal accumulation pattern in fish species

LA COLLA, NOELIA S.; BOTTÉ, SANDRA E.; MARCOVECCHIO, JORGE E.

JOURNAL OF MARINE SYSTEMS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2018 vol. 181 p. 53 - 62

0924-7963

The pollution of aquatic environments is a worldwide problem of difficult solution since these areas are used forthe disposal and dilution of anthropogenic wastes. This study evaluated the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni and Znin the gills, liver and muscle tissues of six economically important fish species from the Bahía Blanca estuary inArgentina, a coastal environment that is under anthropogenic pressure.Metal contents in 147 fish samples were determined by digestion and a subsequent analysis with an ICP OES.The concentrations (μg/g, wet weight) of each metal in the fish tissues ranged from below the limit of detectionfor the four metals to 5.2 in the case of Cd, 340 for Cu, 20 for Ni, and 101 for Zn. The results suggested that metalburden in fishes varied with the species and metal elements, with Cd, Cu and Zn mean maximum accumulationtowards the liver tissue. Ni showed a high number of samples with concentrations below the limit of detection.Among species, Cynoscion guatucupa was found to have the highest concentrations of Cu and Zn in the livertissues, whereas the gills and liver tissues of Mustelus schmitti showed the lowest levels of Ni and Zn. As regardsthe human health risks, two samples of muscle tissue belonging to C. guatucupa reached to Cd levels that exceededthe permissible levels for human consumption. Moreover, the estimated daily intakes calculated suggestthat people would not experience significant health risks from the intake of individual metals through fishconsumption.