Trace Metal Residues in Swimming Warrior Crab Callinectes bellicosus: A Consumption Risk

Abstract

This study was carried out in the Navachiste coastal lagoon, Mexico, surrounded by intensive agricultural and aquaculture activities that cause environmental pollution by the deposition of trace metal residues in the sediments of this coastal lagoon. The trace metals are bioaccumulated by benthic organisms such as the blue swimming warrior crab, Callinectes bellicosus, which inhabits this lagoon and is consumed by humans. Ninety-five C. bellicosus edible tissue samples were collected (April 2014–January 2015). The extraction procedure of the trace metals in edible tissue samples was carried out by acid digestion with nitric acid. Based on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States, two indices were used to measure health risk: the estimated daily intake (EDI) and the target hazard quotient (THQ). The hazard index (HI) was used to calculate the probability of adverse carcinogenic risk and the target hazard quotient per sample (MHI) to calculate the probability of developing a carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic risk. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences among trace metal concentrations (p < 0.01), but all trace metal concentrations in the edible tissues of C. bellicosus were higher than the maximum residual limits (MRLs). The highest EDI was for Zn, Fe, and Cu, showing that the consumption of these crabs might represent health risks. The THQ >1 was for Ni, Zn, Cd, and Cu, and the HI = 16 revealed the risk of C. bellicosus for high-level consumers. The MHI showed that 98% of samples presented a THQ >1, implying a high rate of bioaccumulation of trace metals by the crabs independent of the sampling site in the NAV. The presence of trace metals in the edible tissue of crabs reflects contamination by trace metals, and the indices results mean that the NAV lagoon is constantly polluted with trace metal residues by neighboring agriculture and aquaculture activities. These trace metal residues are being bioaccumulated in the edible tissues of C. bellicosus due to its feeding habits, resulting in a health risk if its consumption is high, including carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks.

Health risk of consuming Sphoeroides spp. from the Navachiste Lagoon complex due to its trace metals and organochlorine pesticides content

“…The Ni concentration (8.06 mg kg −1 dw) of the edible tissue of Sphoeroides spp. were higher to those reported in recent studies on other marine species of the region 35 , 60 , 67 – 69 (Table 3 ). However, the concentration of Ni in predatory fishes has been reported to be slightly higher than those in herbivorous and omnivorous species 66 .…”

“…feeding habits and its place in the trophic web (Table 3 ). The top predatory fish in the open sea are found in most cases in the upper levels of the food web 59 , depending on whether their feeding habit is filtering or detritivorous 35 , 60 , or demersal or pelagic 61 . These characteristics make these species suitable for larger biomagnifying and bioaccumulating of trace metals than Sphoeroides spp., which an omnivorous species located at the mid-level of the food web, its diet includes fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.…”

“…Iron is an important metal for life, essential as a component of proteins, such as hemoglobin, and of muscle tissue 76 . The origin of its high concentration in the analyzed fillet could be attributed to the presence and erosion of this element from the earth crust in the region, or by the untreated sewage discharges from municipal and rural populations to the lagoon 35 , 60 . This Fe concentration in the present study (80.52 mg kg −1 dw) was similar to that detected in Atherina hepsetus (78 mg kg −1 ) 77 , higher than in farmed snapper species (5.103–19.985 mg kg −1 ) 78 (Table 3 ).…”

“…This higher concentration depends on various factors, the feeding habit of Sphoeroides spp. as carnivorous, the enrichment factor in the sediments, the continental crust contribution, and the grade and source of anthropogenic pollution 13 , 28 , 35 , 89 . Compared with recent reports on the concentration of TM in the muscle of other marine fish species, the concentrations of Cd, Ni, Zn, and Pb in the Sphoeroides spp.…”

“…3 ) and the hazard index (HI) (Eq. 4 ) 32 , 34 , 35 were used to calculate the non-carcinogenic risk. …”