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Heavy Metals in a Tropical Eel Anguilla marmorata from The Central Part of Vietnam

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Abstract

In order to understand the present status of heavy metal contamination and the risk associated with human consumption, commercial freshwater eels in Vietnam were examined. The concentration of eight elements (Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, and Pb) was determined in muscle tissue of tropical eel Anguilla marmorata collected in four provinces, Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, and Phu Yen, from the central part of Vietnam. Concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Sr were found to be highest, whereas Co concentration showed the lowest at Quang Tri. Cr was recorded to be lowest in Quang Ngai, while the amounts of Mn and Pb did not vary among locations. Although the metal concentrations in the muscle of A. marmorata did not represent a risk for human consumption, elevated Cd concentrations in Quang Tri related to agriculture activities suggest that further investigations should be undertaken to clarify the potential risk to the eel population.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mrs. Suzanne Faxneld for her statistical help and suggestions in the manuscript. We wish to thank colleagues from IMER (Institute of Marine Environment and Resources) and ICRC (International Coastal Research Center) for their kind help in the laboratory. We also thank the reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by JSPS (The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Doctoral Scholarship to Le Quang Dung. This work was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid no. 18780141 and 20688008 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Coastal Research Center, Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Akahama 2-106-1, Otsuchi, Iwate, 028-1102, Japan

    Quang Dung Le, Kotaro Shirai & Takaomi Arai

  2. Institute of Marine Environment and Resources, 246 Danang, Hai Phong, Vietnam

    Duc Cu Nguyen

  3. Center for International Cooperation, Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minanidai, Nakano, Tokyo, 164-8639, Japan

    Nobuyuki Miyazaki

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  1. Quang Dung Le
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  2. Kotaro Shirai
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  4. Nobuyuki Miyazaki
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  5. Takaomi Arai
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Correspondence to Quang Dung Le.

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Le, Q.D., Shirai, K., Nguyen, D.C. et al. Heavy Metals in a Tropical Eel Anguilla marmorata from The Central Part of Vietnam. Water Air Soil Pollut 204, 69–78 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0027-7

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