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Heavy Metal in Tissues of Three Fish Species from Different Trophic Levels in a Tropical Brazilian River

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Abstract

The Paraíba do Sul river is located in one of the most developed part of Brazil and receives many organic and industrial effluents directly affecting the ichthyofauna. Concentration of four heavy metals (Cu, Cr, Zn and Pb) were determined in two tissues (muscle and gonads) of three abundant fish species from different trophic levels (Oligosarcus hepsetus—carnivore, Geophagus brasiliensis—omnivore and Hypostomus luetkeni—detritivore) between November 2002 and April 2003. The aim was to test the hypothesis that the trophic level and the proximity from impacted areas influence levels of contamination and to assess if these species are indicators of large-scale habitat quality. Levels of heavy metals were detected by Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence with Synchrotron Radiation (SR-TXRF) at the Brazilian National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (LNLS). Generally, gonads showed higher metal concentration than muscles, except for Cr. All examined metals, but Cu, exceeded the maximum permitted concentration (mpc) by the Brazilian legislation for human consumption in at least one tissue. O. hepsetus (carnivore) showed the highest contamination levels, followed by G. brasiliensis (omnivore) and H. luetkeni (detritivore). The middle-upper segment, which encompasses large urban areas, showed the highest levels of metal contamination in most cases. O. hepsetus showed the highest levels of contamination in muscles for Pb in the middle-upper river segment (7.98 ± 3.73; mpc = 2.0 μg g−1) and for Cr in the upper (5.53 ± 0.05; mpc = 0.10 μg g−1) and middle-upper (4.20 ± 0.85; mpc = 0.10 μg g−1) segments, which indicates that human population should avoid to consume these fishes species from these segments of the Paraíba do Sul river.

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Acknowledgements

We are particularly grateful to Carlos Roberto Ferreira de Castro and Marcelino José dos Anjos for invaluable advice in field and laboratory activities, respectively. The following students of the Fish Ecology Laboratory—UFRRJ helped with fieldwork: Benjamin Carvalho Teixeira Pinto, Eduardo Oliveira Estiliano and Daniel Gracia. Brazilian Agency for Research Development (CNPq) and Rio de Janeiro State Research Agency (FAPERJ) provided financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Antiga Rod. Rio-SP, Km 47, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, CEP 23851-970, Brazil

    Bianca Freitas Terra, Francisco Gerson Araújo & Tatiana Pires Teixeira

  2. Laboratório Instrumentação Nuclear—COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, PO Box 68509, 21945-970, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Cristiane Ferreira Calza & Ricardo Tadeu Lopes

Authors
  1. Bianca Freitas Terra
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  2. Francisco Gerson Araújo
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  3. Cristiane Ferreira Calza
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  4. Ricardo Tadeu Lopes
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  5. Tatiana Pires Teixeira
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Correspondence to Francisco Gerson Araújo.

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Terra, B.F., Araújo, F.G., Calza, C.F. et al. Heavy Metal in Tissues of Three Fish Species from Different Trophic Levels in a Tropical Brazilian River. Water Air Soil Pollut 187, 275–284 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9515-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9515-9

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