Total and Toxic Arsenic Levels in North Sea Fish

Abstract

Levels of arsenic contamination in muscle and liver tissue of 25 sea fish and 4 shellfish species from the North Sea were determined. Analyses were done by both ICP-MS and HG-AFS to distinguish between nontoxic and toxic fractions of As. Highest total As concentrations were found in lemon sole, dogfish, ray, and witch. Average total As concentrations in these fish species were higher than 20 mg kg(-1) WW. The same species as well as the other flatfishes contained the highest amounts of toxic As (> 0.1 mg kg(-1) WW). Toxic fractions (AsTox/AsT%) above 2% were found in the following six species: seabass, ling, john dory, pouting, dab, and brill. No preferential concentration in the liver compared to the muscle was observed. In a worst-case scenario (when fish has been dried or smoked and the toxic As level is high; for example 0.5 mg kg(-1) WW), the As content of North Sea marine food may reach harmful levels. A normalization reflecting the toxic potential of sea fish was made. Shark and ray and most flatfish species have positive (high) normalized AsTox values.By ANOVA testing we compared the individual AsT concentrations of samples of the same species (intraspecies variability). Significant differences for some fish species were observed; significantly higher AsT concentrations were found in dogfish from the French coast versus the western North Sea and in common sole from the Bay of the Seine, in the north of France, versus the western North Sea.

Distribution of Arsenic (As) in Water, Sediment and Fish from a Shallow Tropical Reservoir (Aiba Reservoir, Iwo, Nigeria)

“…This suggests that cichlids especially O. niloticus and L. senegalensis, a substrate feeder at the lower level of the food web have higher levels of As, while the bagrid fishes of the genus Chrysichthys and H. odoe, a piscivore with a higher trophic status, have relatively lower levels of As in their systems. This agrees with the report of De Gieter et al, (2002) that interspecies differences in arsenic levels of fish in the North Sea is directly related to their food source and that arsenic does not seem to biomagnify along the food chain but is metabolized. This supports the evidence that arsenic may be nutritionally essential or beneficial (Eisler, 1988).…”

“…However, some authors have suggested that arsenic might be an essential element for organisms at low concentrations (De Gieter et al, 2002). Consumption of fish and drinking water are sources of human exposure to arsenic poisoning; while water is an important source of the more toxic inorganic arsenic, food fish is an important source of exposure to the less toxic organic arsenic (WHO, 2008).…”

“…Consumption of fish and drinking water are sources of human exposure to arsenic poisoning; while water is an important source of the more toxic inorganic arsenic, food fish is an important source of exposure to the less toxic organic arsenic (WHO, 2008). It is reported that about 90% to 95% of total arsenic in many organisms is in form of the inert, less toxic organic form (De Gieter et al, 2002;Olmedo et al, 2013;Medeiros et al, 2014). Organic arsenic in humans is rapidly excreted; a strong correlation between total arsenic in the urine of pregnant Mediterranean women and total lean fish consumption has been reported (Fort et al, 2014).…”

An Overview of Water Quality Issues in Cambodia

“…Much of this arsenic is present as non-toxic arsenobetaine. These arsenic levels are quite typical of marine animals and much higher concentrations have been reported in marine food collected from apparently normal areas (Edmonds and Franecsconi, 1993;de Gieter et al, 2002 Sinath (2002) noted that it is the goal of the Royal Government of Cambodia to increase the proportion of irrigated land to 20%. While the source of much of this water may be constructed reservoirs, groundwater has been considered.…”

Titrimetric determination of arsenic concentration in water samples collected from Hadejia Emirate council, Jigawa state, Nigeria

“…Arsenic has no known essential role in living organisms; exhibit extreme toxicity even at very low levels and exposure has been as a threat to all forms of life especially human health (Eisler, 1985;Järup, 2003;Olmedo al., 2013). However, some authors have suggested that arsenic perhaps essential element for organisms at low concentrations (De Gieter et al, 2002 (Usman and Lar, 2013). However, Arsenic value within WHO maximum permissible limit has been reported for the underground waters of Odede, Ogun State (Amori et al, 2013).…”