Skip to main content
Log in

Mercury Levels in Sediments and Mangrove Oysters, Crassostrea rizophorae, from the North Coast of Villa Clara, Cuba

  • Published:
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Total mercury levels were quantified in sediments and oyster tissues (Crassostrea rizophorae) from the Sagua la Grande River estuary and offshore mangrove keys 19 km downstream of a chlor-alkali plant (CAP) in Villa Clara, Cuba. Relatively elevated total mercury levels were found in sediments from the estuary itself, ranging from 0.507 to 1.81 μg g−1 dry weight. However, levels were lower in sediments from the keys farther from the estuary. Oyster mercury levels were always acceptable for human consumption, although levels significantly correlated in sediments and oysters across sampling sites (p < 0.05), which suggests that mercury from the CAP is impacting coastal water quality conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bloom NS, Moretto LM, Ugo P (2004) A comparison of the speciation and fate of mercury in two contaminated coastal marine ecosystems: the Venice Lagoon (Italy) and Lavaca Bay (Texas). Limnol Oceanogr 49:367–375

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • De La Rosa D, Lima L, Olivares-Rieumont S, Graham DW, Enriquez I, Díaz O, Bastias JM, Munoz O (2009a) Assessment of total mercury levels in Clarias gariepinus from the Sagua la Grande River, Cuba. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 82:101–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De La Rosa D, Olivares-Rieumont S, Lima L, Díaz O, Moyano S, Bastías JM, Muñoz O (2009b) Estimate of mercury and methyl mercury intake associated with fish consumption from Sagua la Grande River, Cuba. Food Addit Contam Part B 2:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Díaz-Asencio M, Alonso-Hernandez CM, Bolanos-Alvarez Y, Gomez-Batista M, Morabito R, Pinto V, Hernández-Albernas JI, Eriksson M, Sanchez-Cabeza J (2009) One century sedimentary record of Hg and Pb pollution in the Sagua estuary (Cuba) derived from Pb-210 and -137 Cs chronology. Mar Poll Bull 59:108–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon C, Pelletier E, Mucci A (1996) Diagenetic behavior of methylmercury in organic-rich coastal sediments. Limnol Oceanogr 41:428–434

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez H (1991) Heavy metal surveys in sediments of five important Cuban Bays. Biogeochem 14:113–128

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hortellani MA, Souza JE, Bonetti J, Bonetti C (2005) Evaluation of mercury contamination in sediments from Santos -São Vicente estuarine system, São Paulo State, Brazil. J Braz Chem Soc 16:1140–1149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kehrig H, Costa M, Moreirac I, Malma O (2006) Total and methyl mercury in different species of mollusks from two estuaries in Rio de Janeiro State. J Braz Chem Soc 17:1409–1418

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • PTI Environmental Services (1988) Sediment quality values refinement: 1988 update and evaluation of Puget Sound AET. PTI Environmental Services, Bellevue, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • UNEP (2002) Global mercury assessment. UNEP Chemicals, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaisman A, Marins R, Lacerda L (2005) Characterization of the mangrove oyster, Crassostrea rhizophorae, as a biomonitor for mercury in tropical estuarine systems, Northeast Brazil. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 74:582–588

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment of Cuba as part of the UNDP CUB/92/G31 and IAEA CUB7008 Projects. Authors are grateful to Mrs Mercedes Arellano, Mrs Natalia Polanko, Mr. Edgar Rivas and Mr. Michel Manduca for coordination and support and to the fishermen from Isabela de Sagua (UEB ISAMAR).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. W. Graham.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Olivares-Rieumont, S., Lima, L., Rivero, S. et al. Mercury Levels in Sediments and Mangrove Oysters, Crassostrea rizophorae, from the North Coast of Villa Clara, Cuba. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 88, 589–593 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-012-0544-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-012-0544-8

Keywords

Navigation