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Comparative study of mercury speciation in commercial fishes of the Brazilian Amazon

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Abstract

Mercury is responsible for serious episodes of environmental pollution throughout the world, especially in the Amazon. This toxicity has led regulatory agencies to focus on fish as the target organism for protecting the health of humans and other sensitive organisms. Unfortunately, in the Amazon area, different sampling strategies and the wide variety of sampling areas and fish species make it extremely difficult to determine relationships across geographic regions or over time to ascertain historical trends. Thus, the aim of this work was to achieve three main objectives: a comparative study of mercury contamination in fish of Itaituba (Tapajós, located downstream of the largest gold-mining region in Amazon) and Belém (an area non-exposed to mercury pollution of anthropogenic origin), perform an analysis of inorganic mercury (IHg) versus monomethylmercury (MeHg) contents, and, finally, compare mercury contamination in Tapajós over time. Five piscivorous species were obtained in Itaituba and Belém. Also, four non-piscivorous species were collected in Itaituba. For the first time, mercury speciation showed that (1) current MeHg levels in piscivorous species in Tapajós are higher than those of the non-exposed area, (2) piscivorous species from Itaituba (dourada, filhote, and sarda) contained mercury levels above the World Health Organization safety limit (~17 %) and/or above the US Environmental Protection Agency tissue residue criterion (40 %), (3) increased MeHg is usually accompanied by increased IHg, and (4) the mean total mercury concentrations for piscivorous species in Itaituba were within the same range and, associated uncertainties as those previously reported, although a remarkable decreasing trend over time was observed for mean total Hg concentrations in non-piscivorous species from Itaituba. The present study supports the importance of continuous monitoring of both populations in the Amazon Rivers. Our results will better assist the development of preventive strategies and governmental actions to confront the problem of mercury contamination in the Amazon.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI) (A/556/06 BOE 10 Enero 2007), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Pará (FAPESPA, #092/2008), Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Tecnologia (CNPq, #474906/2010-8 e 478580/2012-6), and Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade Federal do Pará (PROPESP—UFPA, Edital PAPQ). ME Crespo-López, AM Herculano and JLM do Nascimento thank CNPq for their grants. Also, we really would like to thank the Editor and referees of Environmental Science and Pollution Research journal for their contributions to improve our work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry and Food Technology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Biochemistry, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 45071, Toledo, Spain

    R. C. Rodríguez Martín-Doimeadios, F. J. Guzmán Bernardo & M. Jiménez Moreno

  2. Department of Analytical Chemistry and Food Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain

    J. J. Berzas Nevado

  3. Laboratório de Farmacologia Molecular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Av. Augusto Correa, 01. Campus do Guamá, 66075110, Belém, Brazil

    G. P. F. Arrifano & M. E. Crespo-López

  4. Laboratório de Neuroendocrinologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil

    A. M. Herculano

  5. Laboratório de Neuroquímica e Biologia Celular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil

    J. L. M. do Nascimento

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  1. R. C. Rodríguez Martín-Doimeadios
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  2. J. J. Berzas Nevado
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  4. M. Jiménez Moreno
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  5. G. P. F. Arrifano
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  6. A. M. Herculano
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  7. J. L. M. do Nascimento
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  8. M. E. Crespo-López
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Correspondence to M. E. Crespo-López.

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Responsible editor: Stuart Simpson

Dedication

Professor J.J. Berzas Nevado sadly passed away. This paper is dedicated to the memory of this outstanding scientific and dear friend, with all our respect and acknowledgements.

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Rodríguez Martín-Doimeadios, R.C., Berzas Nevado, J.J., Guzmán Bernardo, F.J. et al. Comparative study of mercury speciation in commercial fishes of the Brazilian Amazon. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 7466–7479 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2680-7

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