Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification of Trace Elements in the Environment

Szynkowska, M. I.; Pawlaczyk, Aleksandra; Maćkiewicz, Elżbieta

doi:10.1002/9781119133780.ch13

Cited by 24 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…In this study, only total mercury content was determined in canned fish and other seafood products. Obviously, high concentration of mercury in fish can be a result of its bioaccumulation (net accumulation of a trace element in a tissue of interest or a whole organism that results from exposure), bioconcentration (uptake of a chemical by an organism directly from the abiotic environment resulting in a higher concentration within the organism), and the position of fish in the food chain (biomagnification being an increase in the concentration in an organism from a lower trophic level to a higher trophic level within the same food web due to bioaccumulation from the diet), as it was previously mentioned [ 11 , 12 ]. It is also a well-known fact that methylmercury can be a dominant form of mercury in fish.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exposure to methylmercury occurs almost exclusively through the consumption of fish, especially predatory fish, seafood, and meat of large marine mammals. Methylmercury accounts for approximately 70–90% of total mercury content in them according to different literature data [ 8 , 9 , 10 ] and it undergoes bioaccumulation, bioconcentration, and biomagnification along the food chain [ 11 , 12 ]. However, this compound can be absorbed as well through the skin and lungs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this compound can be absorbed as well through the skin and lungs. More notably, even if the inorganic forms are incorporated into the water, bacteria can initiate changes of the transformation from mercury to methylmercury, a far more toxic form [ 11 ]. The biological half-life of methylmercury is assessed to be about 65 days.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Risk of Mercury Ingestion from Canned Fish in Poland

et al. 2020

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In this study, total mercury content was determined in 84 canned fish corresponding to commonly consumed brands (over 14 different producers), which were purchased from local markets in Poland in the years 2019–2020. For comparison purposes, samples of both the matrix in which the fish were kept along with the seafood samples were measured. The analyses were carried out using the cold vapor AAS technique. Statistical analyses were employed to identify significant differences in mercury content in relation to the selected criteria such as fish species, type of fish (predatory, non-predatory) and the producer brand. The obtained results were compared against domestic and international standards as well as with the literature data in order to evaluate the safety of the canned fish consumption. The study revealed that none of canned fish exceeded the acceptable levels set by the FAO/WHO. The highest amount of Hg was recorded for canned tuna (maximum 351.30 µg/kg, mean 74.38 µg/kg). Further, the estimated tolerable dose of weekly mercury intake suggests that the consumption of over 1.8 cans of fish with the highest mean mercury content should not pose a risk to consumers in Poland according to international standards. Among the ten highest mean results for mercury, five of them belonged to canned tuna (Bonito species) kept in different matrices. These consisted of seven domestic and three imported brands of fish products, which is a worrying message for a local community. Mercury content in predatory fish differed significantly from the results gathered for non-predatory fish and the total amount of mercury in studied canned fish corresponded to their status in the aquatic food chain. Moreover, significant differences were stated between various fish species and fishing areas. Fish caught in the Atlantic Ocean (cod and herring) presented higher mercury content than the ones from closed seas.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Risk of Mercury Ingestion from Canned Fish in Poland

et al. 2020

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“…However, the nutrient enrichment of water is typically accompanied by contamination with other hazardous pollutants, e.g., pesticides and heavy metals, which can be accumulated in considerable amounts in marine animals through the food chains [20][21][22]. Some of these pollutants are extremely toxic to mammals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Element Contents in Three Commercially Important Edible Mollusks Harvested off the Southwestern Coast of Crimea (Black Sea) and Assessment of Human Health Risks from Their Consumption

Kapranov

Karavantseva

Бобко

et al. 2021

Foods

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Mollusks are a prospective food for the world’s growing population, but the contents of toxic and essential trace elements in them have not been studied comprehensively. In this work, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, the contents of 72 elements in soft tissues of the edible mollusks Mytilus galloprovincialis, Rapana venosa, and Crassostrea gigas from the coastal area of the southwestern Crimea were estimated and compared with the maximum permissible levels. Element accumulation similarities were observed in the two bivalve species. Cluster analysis applied to the non-normalized contents allowed finding an optimal number of non-overlapping element clusters: 1 group of macroelements, 1–2 groups of trace elements, and 1–2 groups of ultratrace elements. As an outcome of this analysis, the element accumulation universality index was introduced, which demonstrated the accumulation universality decrease in the order: mussel > sea snail > oyster. An original approach to estimating the mollusk consumption rate was proposed to assess human health risks. Two possible consumption scenarios were identified for Crimean residents. From the expected consumption of all species in both scenarios, there are no health risks, but they are not excluded, within the 95% probability, from high consumption of mussels and sea snails in the pessimistic scenario.

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“…o Order of elements from highest to lowest measured avg. concentrations: Br>Zn>Cd>Mo>V>U>Fe>Cu>Ni>I o It is noted that trace elements Zn, Cd, Mo, V, Cu and Ni can be biomagnified in some aquatic food-chains, specifically in organisms at lower tropic levels (Ikemoto et al, 2008;Szynkowska et al, 2018). This process may partially explain some of the large, measured concentrations for these elements in the black coral skeleton.…”

Section: Chapter 4 -Key Outcomes: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trace Elements in Deep-Sea Black (Antipatharian) Coral Skeletons

Parr¹

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The proteinaceous skeletons of deep-sea Antipatharian 'black' corals are a new proxy archive that has shown promise for providing high resolution marine records in a wide range of waters. Although stable isotopes have been used successfully for palaeoceanographic reconstruction, there have been few studies of trace metals in these skeletons. In this thesis we study a suite of trace elements in black coral skeletons to assess their utility in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Fifty black corals were sampled from the NIWA Invertebrate Collection, broadly distributed around New Zealand from ~25˚S to 47 ˚S and 165˚E to 155˚E. Small powder samples were taken from the outer layers of the coral skeleton, dissolved in nitric acid and analysed by ICP-MS using a new methodology developed as part of this thesis. We critically evaluate this new method, quantifying the limits on accuracy and intrinsic reproducibility, and comparing this to the range of concentrations found in coral specimens. A necessary step in evaluating the potential for trace elements to provide palaeoenvironmental information is to understand how trace elements become incorporated into the corals’ skeletons. Questions include whether uptake is passive or active (i.e. biologically mediated); and whether trace elements derive from the coral’s food (originating in the surface ocean) or from the ambient water in which the coral is growing. In this thesis we explore these questions by studying spatial patterns of coral trace elements to determine if they show similarity to surface or intermediate-depth ocean trace element distributions. We investigate the influence of several variables on coral trace elements including proximity to the NZ mainland, the depth at which the corals grew, regional oceanography, and primary productivity. We examine the enrichment of skeletal trace elements compared with both coral tissue and particulate organic material (POM). Finally, we examine subsets of the coral samples that control for several environmental variables in an attempt to isolate the effect of coral size and taxonomy on trace element concentrations. Replicate samples from the same specimens and from different specimens at the same site (or within a 25Km radius) were used to assess differences in trace element content within and between coral specimens, respectively. Our results indicate that black corals strongly enrich many trace elements (TE) in their skeletons and tissues (Br>Zn>Cd>Mo>V>U>Fe>Cu>Ni>I) at levels up to 10⁸ times higher than seawater concentrations. A large intrinsic variability in TE content was found between and within all black coral specimens. This variability largely obscures any relationship that may indicate a water column origin and mechanism of uptake. Coral taxonomy at a genus level strongly influences most TE concentrations, contributing up to 80% of the variation in some elements. Although largely inconclusive, the data hints at a combination of active and passive uptake pathways from ambient or surface seawater sources for some elements which might warrant further investigation. In order to advance this field of study further, we suggest that a better understanding is needed of the taxonomic control over trace element incorporation, including biomineralisation and biological utilisation of trace elements by black corals. We also note that there is a lack of data on trace element biogeochemical cycles in the waters around NZ, which would be important in order to better constrain the behaviour of the TEs in black corals and to better evaluate their paleoenvironmental utility.

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Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification of Trace Elements in the Environment

Cited by 24 publications

References 47 publications

Risk of Mercury Ingestion from Canned Fish in Poland

Risk of Mercury Ingestion from Canned Fish in Poland

Element Contents in Three Commercially Important Edible Mollusks Harvested off the Southwestern Coast of Crimea (Black Sea) and Assessment of Human Health Risks from Their Consumption

Trace Elements in Deep-Sea Black (Antipatharian) Coral Skeletons

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