Mercury in Indigenous, Introduced and Farmed Fish from the Semiarid Region of the Jaguaribe River Basin, NE Brazil

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 93; no. 1; pp. 31 - 35
• Main Authors: Lacerda, L. D, Costa, B. G. B. C, Lopes, D. N, Oliveira, K, Bezerra, M. F, Bastos, W. R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer-Verlag 01.07.2014; Springer US; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Aquaculture; Aquatic Pollution; Arid zones; Basins; Bioaccumulation; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil; Cichlids; Concentration (composition); Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; farmed fish; Farms; Fish; Fish and seafood industries; fish consumption; Fisheries; Fishes - physiology; Food Contamination - analysis; Food industries; Food toxicology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Guidelines; Introduced species; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Mercury - analysis; Methylmercury; methylmercury compounds; muscle tissues; Muscle, Skeletal - chemistry; Muscles; Oreochromis niloticus; Pollution; River basins; Rivers - chemistry; Semiarid lands; semiarid zones; Soil Science & Conservation; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollution Control; watersheds; Brazil; Amazonia; South America; America; South America, Amazon R; Introduced fish; Tilapia; Mercury; Contamination; Aquaculture; Edible fish; Introduced species; Farming animal; Aquacutture; River basins; Heavy metal; Freshwater environment; Trace element; Pollutant; Vertebrata; Semi arid zone; Pisces; Pisciculture; Native species
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-014-1263-0

Indigenous, introduced and farmed fish species were collected from the Jaguaribe Basin, NE Brazil to assess total and methyl mercury concentrations in muscle tissue and to determine its relationship with fish origin. The results obtained from introduced species were compared to the Hg content of their original area of occurrence, which is located in the Amazon region. Farmed and wild individuals of Oreochromis niloticus (tilapia) were also compared. Introduced species presented lower Hg contents compared to their Amazonian counterparts. Wild individuals of O. niloticus also presented higher Hg contents than farmed individuals with similar sizes. However, methyl Hg concentrations were not significantly different between the two groups. Total Hg and methyl Hg concentrations were higher in carnivorous species, especially those from the Amazon region, and surpassed the Brazilian guidelines for fish consumption. Based on their Hg content, Jaguaribe basin fish do not pose a significant threat to human consumption.