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Total mercury in muscles and liver of Mugil spp. from three coastal lagoons of NW Mexico: concentrations and risk assessment

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Abstract

Total mercury (Hg) concentrations were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in muscles and liver of composite samples of Mugil cephalus and M. curema collected during November 2013 and in January, April, and July 2014 from the coastal lagoons Altata-Ensenada del Pabellón (AEP), Ceuta (CEU), and Teacapán-Agua Brava (TAG) of Sinaloa State. The mean Hg contents and information on local consumption were used to assess the possible risk caused by fish ingestion. Mean total mercury levels in the muscles ranged from 0.11 to 0.39 μg/g, while the range for liver was 0.12–3.91 μg/g. The mean Hg content of the liver was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than that of the muscles only in samples collected from AEP. Although total Hg levels in the muscles were lower than the official permissible limit, the HQ values for methyl mercury calculated for the younger age classes of one fishing community were >1, indicating a possible risk for some fishing communities of the Mexican Pacific coast.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by projects PROFAPI-UAS 2014/074 of the Programa de Fomento y Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación of the Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, PROMEP/103.5/13/9354 (Programa de Mejoramiento al Profesorado, Secretaría de Educación Pública), and CONACYT INFRA 2012-01-188029 (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología). Karla Sánchez helped with analytical work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Politécnica de Sinaloa, Carretera Mazatlán-Higueras Km 3, Col. Genaro Estrada, C.P. 82199, 82199, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

    C. G. Delgado-Alvarez

  2. Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, Paseo Claussen s/n, 82000, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

    M. G. Frías-Espericueta, M. J. Becerra-Álvarez, C. C. Osuna-Martínez, M. Aguilar-Juárez & J. I. Osuna-López

  3. Instituto Tecnológico de Mazatlán, 82070, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

    J. Ruelas-Inzunza

  4. Conacyt, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, 82000, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

    O. Escobar-Sánchez

  5. Laboratorio de Estudios Ambientales UAS-CIBNOR, P.O. Box 1132, 82000, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

    D. Voltolina

Authors
  1. C. G. Delgado-Alvarez
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  2. M. G. Frías-Espericueta
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  3. J. Ruelas-Inzunza
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  4. M. J. Becerra-Álvarez
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  5. C. C. Osuna-Martínez
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  6. M. Aguilar-Juárez
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  7. J. I. Osuna-López
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  8. O. Escobar-Sánchez
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  9. D. Voltolina
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Correspondence to D. Voltolina.

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Delgado-Alvarez, C.G., Frías-Espericueta, M.G., Ruelas-Inzunza, J. et al. Total mercury in muscles and liver of Mugil spp. from three coastal lagoons of NW Mexico: concentrations and risk assessment. Environ Monit Assess 189, 312 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6020-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6020-5

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