Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Guiana Dolphins (Sotalia guianensis, Van Benédén 1864) as Indicators of the Bioaccumulation of Total Mercury along the Coast of Rio de Janeiro State, Southeastern Brazil

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

Abstract

Total mercury (Hg) was determined in muscle tissue of 20 Guiana dolphins stranded along the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, with a mean of 1.07 μg/g wet weight. Mercury concentrations were positively related to body length, possibly related to the capacity of the dolphins to bioaccumulate this element throughout life. The Hg concentrations were not significantly different between males and females, although females (1.08 μg/g) showed slightly higher levels than males (1.04 μg/g). Concentrations were low when compared to results of studies carried out with small cetaceans in the Northern Hemisphere, and with previous studies in the Southeastern Brazil.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aguilar A, Borrel A, Pastor T (1999) Biological factors affecting variability of persistent pollutant levels in cetaceans. J Cetacean Res Manage 1(Special Issue):83–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Bustamante P, Garrigue C, Breau L, Caurant F, Dabin W, Greaves J, Dobemont R (2003) Trace elements in two odontocete species (Kogia breviceps and Globicephala macrorhynchus) stranded in New Caledonia (South Pacific). Environ Pollut 124(2):263–271

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho ML, Pereira RA, Brito J (2002) Heavy metals in soft tissues of Tursiops truncatus and Delphinus delphis from West Atlantic Ocean by X-ray spectrometry. Sci Total Environ 292(3):247–254

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho CEV, Di Beneditto APM, Souza CMG, Ramos RMA, Resende CE (2008) Heavy metal distribution in two cetacean species from Rio de Janeiro State, south-eastern Brazil. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 88:1117

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen MH, Shih CC, Chou CL, Chou LS (2002) Mercury, organic-mercury and selenium in small cetaceans in Taiwanese waters. Mar Pollut Bull 45(1–12):237–245

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Di Beneditto APM, Ramos RMA (2004) Biology of the marine tucuxi dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis) in south-eastern Brazil. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 84:1245–1250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Beneditto APM, Siciliano S (2007) Stomach contents of the marine tucuxi dolphin from Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 87:253–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Endo T, Haraguchi K, Sakata M (2003) Renal toxicity in rats after oral administration of mercurycontaminated boiled whale livers marketed for human consumption. Environ Contam Toxicol 44(3):412–416

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming LE, Broad K, Clement A, Dewailly E, Elmir S, Knap A (2006) Oceans and human health: emerging public health risks in the marine environment. Mar Pollut Bull 53(10–12):545–560

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frodello JP, Roméo M, Viale D (2000) Distribution of mercury in the organs and tissues of five toothed-whale species of the Mediterranean. Environ Pollut 108(3):447–452

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gaskin DE, Smith GJD, Arnold PW, Louisy MV (1974) Mercury, DDT, dieldrin, and PCB in two species of odontoceti (Cetacea) from St. Lucia, Lesser Antilles. J Fish Res Board Can 31:1235–1239

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Geraci R, Lounsbury VJ (2005) Marine mammals ashore: a field guide for strandings, 2nd edn. National Aquarium and Baltimore Press, Baltimore

  • Henry J, Best P (1999) A note on concentrations of metals in cetaceans from southern Africa. In: Reijnders PJH, Aguilar A, Donovan GP (eds) Chemical pollutants and cetaceans. J Cetac Res Manage (Special Issue 1), Cambridge, pp 177–194

  • Holsbeek L, Siebert U, Joiris CR (1998) Heavy metals in dolphins stranded on the French Atlantic coast. Sci Total Environ 217(3):241–249

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Itano K, Kawai S, Miyasaki N, Tatsukawa R, Fujiyama T (1984) Mercury and selenium levels in striped dolphins caught off the Pacific coast of Japan. Agric Biol Chem 48(5):1109–1116

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kehrig HA, Seixas TG, Baeta A, Lailson-Brito J, Moreira I, Malm O (2004) Total mercury, methylmercury and selenium in the livers and muscle of different fishes and a marine mammal from a tropical estuary-Brazil. RMZ Mater Geoenviron 51(1):1111–1114

    Google Scholar 

  • Kehrig HA, Fernandes KWG, Malm O, Seixas TG, Di Beneditto APM, Souza CMM (2009) Transferência trófica de mercúrio e selênio na costa norte do Rio de Janeiro. Quim Nova 32(7):1822–1828

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kemper C, Gibbs P, Obendorf D, Marvanek S, Lenghaus C (1994) A review of heavy metal and organochlorine levels in marine mammals in Australia. Sci Total Environ 154(2–3):129–139

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Knoppers BA, Pollehne F (1991) The transport of carbon, nitrogen and heavy metals to the offshore sediments by plankton sedimentation. In: Ekau W (ed) Brazilian German Victor Hensen Programme: joint oceanographic projects: Jops’ 90/91—Cruise report. Werner Ekau Zentrum fur Marine Tropenökologie, Bermehaven, German, pp 25–29

  • Kunito T, Nakamura S, Ikemoto T, Anan Y, Kubota R, Tanabe S, Rosas FCW, Fillmann G, Readman JW (2004) Concentration and subcellular distribution of trace elements in liver of small cetaceans incidentally caught along the Brazilian coast. Mar Pollut Bull 49:574–587

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lopes AP, Vidal LG, Andrade-Costa ES, Schilithz PF, Barbosa LA, Bianchi I, Azevedo AF, Dorneles PR, Malm O, Lailson-Brito J (2008) Concentrações de mercúrio total em tecidos de cetáceos costeiros do estado do Espírito Santo. 8th Reunión de Trabajo de Especialistas en Mamíferos Acuáticos de América del Sur. Montevideo, Uruguay, p 160

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcovecchio JE, Moreno VJ, Batisda RO, Gerpe MS, Rodrigues DH (1990) Tissue distribution of heavy metals in small cetaceans from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. Mar Pollut Bull 21(6):299–304

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monaci F, Borrel A, Leonzio C, Marsili L, Calzada N (1998) Trace elements in striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from the western Mediterranean. Environ Pollut 99(1):61–68

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monteiro-Neto C, Itavo RV, Moraes LES (2003) Concentrations of heavy metals in Sotalia fluviatilis (Cetacea: Delphinidae) off the coast of Ceará, northeast Brazil. Environ Pollut 123(2):319–324

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moura JF, Cardozo M, Belo MSSP, Hacon S, Siciliano S (2011) A interface da saúde pública com a saúde dos oceanos: produção de doenças, impactos socioeconômicos e relações benéficas. Ciênc Saúde Coletiva 16(8):3469–3480

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Shea TJ (1999) Environmental contaminants and marine mammals. In: Reynolds JM, Rommel SA (eds) Biology of marine mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp 485–564

  • Outridge PM, Sanei H, Stern GA, Hamilton PB, Goodarzi F (2007) Evidence for control of mercury accumulation rates in Canadian high arctic lake sediments by variations of aquatic primary productivity. Environ Sci Technol 41(15):5259–5265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roditi-Elasar M, Kerem D, Hornung H, Kress N, Shoham-Frider E, Goffman O, Spanier E (2003) Heavy metal levels in bottlenose and striped dolphins off the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Mar Pollut Bull 46:491–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruelas JR, Páez-Osuna F, Perez-Cortes H (2000) Distribution of mercury in muscle, liver and kidney of the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) stranded in the southern Gulf of California. Mar Pollut Bull 40(11):1063–1066

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seixas TG, Kehrig HA, Di Beneditto APM, Souza CMM, Malm O, Moreira I (2009) Essential (Se, Cu) and non-essential (Ag, Hg, Cd) elements: What are their relationships in liver of Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea, Delphinidae)? Mar Pollut Bull 58:601–634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebert U, Joiris C, Holsbeek L, Benke H, Failing K, Frese K, Petzinger E (1999) Potential relation between mercury concentrations and necropsy findings in cetaceans from German waters of North and Baltic Seas. Mar Pollut Bull 38(4):285–295

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Bressem MF, Santos COM, Oshima JMF (2009) Skin diseases in Guiana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) from the Paranaguá estuary, Brazil: a possible indicator of a compromised marine environment. Mar Environ Res 67(2):63–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vega CM, Siciliano S, Barrocas PRG, Hacon SS, Campos RC, Jacob SC, Ott H (2009) Levels of cadmium, mercury, and lead in magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) stranded on the Brazilian Coast. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 58(2):460–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Miyazaki N (2003) Moisture content in Dall’s porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) tissues: a reference base for conversion factors between dry and wet weight trace element concentrations in cetaceans. Environ Pollut 121(3):345–347

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the laboratory team from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro (PUCRio) for the help during analyses and the marine mammal research group of Região dos Lagos (GEMM-Lagos) for its support during field work. J.F. de Moura has a fellowship from Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ). The authors are very grateful to the local life-guards and fishermen who provided relevant information for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PPG em Saúde Pública e Meio Ambiente, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Jailson Fulgencio de Moura

  2. Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Marinhos da Região dos Lagos, GEMM-Lagos, ENSP, FIOCRUZ, Rua Leopoldo Bulhões 1480, 6° andar, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21041-210, Brazil

    Jailson Fulgencio de Moura & Salvatore Siciliano

  3. Departamento de Endemias, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública ENSP/FIOCRUZ, Rua Leopoldo Bulhões 1480, 6° andar, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21041-210, Brazil

    Sandra de Souza Hacon & Salvatore Siciliano

  4. Departamento de Química, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rua Marquês de São Vicente 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22453-900, Brazil

    Claudia Maribel Vega, Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis & Reinaldo Calixto de Campos

Authors
  1. Jailson Fulgencio de Moura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sandra de Souza Hacon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Claudia Maribel Vega
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Reinaldo Calixto de Campos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Salvatore Siciliano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jailson Fulgencio de Moura.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

de Moura, J.F., Hacon, S.S., Vega, C.M. et al. Guiana Dolphins (Sotalia guianensis, Van Benédén 1864) as Indicators of the Bioaccumulation of Total Mercury along the Coast of Rio de Janeiro State, Southeastern Brazil. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 88, 54–59 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0448-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0448-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation