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Multielement analysis in the fish hepatic cytosol as a screening tool in the monitoring of natural waters

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Abstract

The possibility of direct measurement of trace elements in hepatic cytosol of European chub (Squalius cephalus) by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR ICP-MS) after cytosol dilution with Milli-Q water and subsequent acidification was investigated. Due to low detection limits of this procedure, determination of 13 elements (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sn, Sr, V and Zn) was possible in the chub hepatic cytosol, exhibiting excellent measurement repeatability in duplicates. Some of these elements were also measured by HR ICP-MS in acid digested cytosols (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Sr, V and Zn). Good agreement of the results obtained after sample dilution and sample digestion indicated that complex organic matrix of hepatic cytosol did not affect measurement reliability. Cytosolic concentrations of 13 trace elements in the chub liver were quantified in the following order: Fe, Zn>Cu>Mn>Mo>Sr, V, Cd>Co>As, Pb>Sn>Sb. Unlike Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn for which the cytosolic concentrations were previously reported after measurement by AAS, cytosolic concentrations of eight additional trace elements characteristic for the liver of chubs inhabiting the low contaminated river water were reported here for the first time (in nanogrammes per gramme)—Mo, 136.8–183.6; Sr, 32.7–63.0; V, 17.5–69.0; Co, 24.3–30.7; As, 9.9–29.5; Pb, 5.8–35.6; Sn, 5.5–12.4; and Sb, 0.9–2.6. The simultaneous measurement of large number of trace elements in the cytosolic fractions of fish tissues, which comprise potentially metal-sensitive sub-cellular pools, could be beneficial as a screening tool in the monitoring of natural waters, because it would enable timely recognition of increased fish exposure to metals.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia (projects No. 098-0982934-2721 and 098-0982934-2715) is acknowledged. The samplings were carried out as a part of the European FP6 project Sava River Basin: Sustainable Use, Management and Protection of Resources (INCO-CT-2004-509160). The authors are thankful to all SARIB project participants for the help in the fish sampling and dissection and to Nesrete Krasnići, B.Sc. for valuable technical assistance in sample preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Laboratory for Biological Effects of Metals, Ruđer Bošković Institute, P.O. Box 180, 10002, Zagreb, Croatia

    Zrinka Dragun, Marijana Vuković & Biserka Raspor

  2. Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Laboratory for Inorganic Environmental Geochemistry, Ruđer Bošković Institute, P.O. Box 180, 10002, Zagreb, Croatia

    Željka Fiket

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  1. Zrinka Dragun
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Correspondence to Zrinka Dragun.

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Dragun, Z., Fiket, Ž., Vuković, M. et al. Multielement analysis in the fish hepatic cytosol as a screening tool in the monitoring of natural waters. Environ Monit Assess 185, 2603–2614 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2734-6

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