Heavy Metal Content in Chilean Fish Related to Habitat Use, Tissue Type and River of Origin

Abstract

In this study, we analyze the concentration of ten metals in two freshwater fish-the benthic catfish Trichomycterus areolatus and the limnetic silverside Basilichthys microlepidotus-in order to detect possible accumulation differences related to fish habitat (benthic or pelagic), tissue type (gill, liver and muscle), and the river of origin (four different rivers) in central Chile. The MANOVA performed with all variables and metals, revealed independent effects of fish, tissue and river. In the case of the fish factor, Cu, Cr, Mo and Zn showed statistically higher concentrations in catfish compared with silverside for all tissues and in all rivers (p < 0.05). In the case of the tissue factor, Al, Cr, Fe and Mn had statistically higher concentrations in liver and gills than in muscle (p < 0.05). For the river effect, the analysis showed higher concentrations of Cr, Mn and Pb in the Cogoti river and the lower concentrations in the Recoleta river. These results suggest that not all metals have the same pattern of accumulation; however, some metals tend to accumulate more in readily catfish, probably due to their benthic habit, and in liver and gill tissue, probably as a result of accumulation from food sources and respiration.

Human Health Risk Assessment for Exposure to Heavy Metals via Dietary Intake of Rainbow Trout in the Influence Area of a Smelting Facility Located in Peru

“…Contamination of aquatic ecosystems by heavy metals due to the accumulation of toxic substances in aquatic biota is a global problem of great interest [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. This is due to their persistence, bioaccumulative capacity, and environmental toxicity [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], which can result from natural processes or anthropogenic activities [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Environmental contamination by Zinc and the risk of its introduction into the food chain

“…Increased human activity has resulted in significant pollution, posing a serious environmental concern to humans, invertebrates, and fish (Copaja et al, 2017). Heavy metals represent a major fraction of contaminants that accumulate in the food chain (Ahmad et al, 2014).…”

Biogeochemical multi‐tag approach reveals the habitat use of a large‐scale migratory fish through a fluvio‐estuarine system

“…In general, liver and gills are among the tissues with the greatest capacity to bioaccumulate metals and toxic elements (Avigliano, Monferr an, et al, 2019;Lunardelli et al, 2018). In this sense, fish provide an integrated insight into the status of their environment, with a potential application as geomarkers (Copaja, Pérez, Vega-Retter, & Véliz, 2017). La Plata Basin is the second largest fluvial-estuarine system in South America and, like most of the aquatic systems, it has been impacted by anthropogenic activities.…”