ABSTRACT
Cadmium, lead, copper, and zinc were analyzed in the dorsal muscle, liver, gonad, and stomach contents of 67 sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus, from the Eastern Pacific. Muscle exhibited the following pattern (µg/g wet weight): Zn (15.05 ± 1.24) > Cu (0.461 ± 0.026) > Cd (0.434 ± 0.099) > Pb (0.025 ± 0.001); liver Zn (119.1 ± 7.6) > Cd (95.1 ± 11.0) > Cu (39.7 ± 2.6) > Pb (0.047 ± 0.004); and gonad Zn (96.8 ± 7.8) > Cd (2.16 ± 0.38) > Cu (2.08 ± 0.14) > Pb (0.033 ± 0.003). Significant (p < 0.05) correlations were observed between elements, length, and weight. I. platypterus feed mainly on fishes and cephalopods with variable concentrations (µg/g wet weight) of Cd (0.081-11.41), Pb (0.002-0.057), Cu (0.204-4.35), and Zn (3.23-86.6). Of the four analyzed elements, only Pb was biomagnified (BMF = 1.85). According to the regulatory limits, muscle exhibited Cd concentrations higher than the Official Mexican Standard, WHO, FDA (28 % of samples), and the European Union (40 %) regulations.
Subject(s)
Metals, Heavy/metabolism , Perciformes/metabolism , Water Pollutants, Chemical/metabolism , Animals , Gastrointestinal Contents/chemistry , Mexico , Tissue DistributionABSTRACT
Trace metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn) concentrations were assessed in the sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea from a nesting colony of Oaxaca, Mexico. Twenty-five female turtles were sampled, a total of 250 eggs were collected during the "arribada" event of the 2005-2006 season. Zn concentrations were highest in the yolk [72.3 ± 10.9 µg/g dry weight (dw)] and blood (58.4 ± 4.7 µg/g dw), whereas Ni concentrations were highest in the shell (48.5 ± 12.9 µg/g dw). The mean concentrations of Cu, and Cd in the analyzed tissues were lower than those reported in other sea turtle species. However, Zn and Ni concentrations in the yolk and shell, respectively, had the same distribution pattern observed at loggerhead and green turtles. On the basis of one nesting season, the maternal transfer and/or the excretion rates of trace metals via eggs-laying, estimated in terms of metal burdens in whole body, were 0.2, 7.8, 3.4, and 21.5% for Cd, Cu, Zn, and Ni, respectively.