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Heavy metal concentrations in tissues of marine fish and crab collected from the middle coast of Zhejiang Province, China

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Abstract

Concentrations of the heavy metals As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn in various tissues of five marine fish species and one crab species collected from the middle coast of Zhejiang Province of China were investigated in this study. The results indicated considerable variation in heavy metal concentrations in different tissues and species. Elevated concentrations of most heavy metals were identified in fish gills and crab gills and hepatopancreas, with some differences by heavy metal type. In addition, carnivorous and benthivorous fish species generally contained relatively high concentrations of heavy metals due to feeding habits and habitats. Geographical variations of heavy metal concentrations in muscle may be attributable to species-dependent differences and terrigenous contamination. The potential health risk assessment suggested that exposure doses of most heavy metals were safe for human consumption, with the exception of As.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFF0201104), the Grants from Scientific Research Fund of the Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources (Nos. JG1718 and JG1910), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41806136), and the Zhejiang Qingshan Lake Innovation Platform for Marine Science and Technology (No. 2017E80001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, No. 36, Baochu North Road, Hangzhou, 310012, People’s Republic of China

    Qiang Liu, Yibo Liao, Xudan Xu, Xiaolai Shi, Jiangning Zeng, Quanzhen Chen & Lu Shou

  2. Ocean College of Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, 316000, People’s Republic of China

    Jiangning Zeng

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  1. Qiang Liu
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  2. Yibo Liao
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  3. Xudan Xu
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  4. Xiaolai Shi
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  6. Quanzhen Chen
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  7. Lu Shou
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Correspondence to Xiaolai Shi or Lu Shou.

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Liu, Q., Liao, Y., Xu, X. et al. Heavy metal concentrations in tissues of marine fish and crab collected from the middle coast of Zhejiang Province, China. Environ Monit Assess 192, 285 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-8234-1

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