Concentration of metal and organic compounds in blue crabs Callinectes sapidus from the lower Quinnipiac and Connecticut River estuaries

Abstract

The Quinnipiac River estuary in Connecticut is bordered by a diversity of industries. To date, no studies have examined tissue burdens of selected metals and xenobiotic compounds in crustaceans from this area, despite the active recreational fishing of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus). The concentrations of metals and organic compounds in muscle and hepatopancreas tissue from blue crabs from the Quinnipiac River were compared to the concentrations of these compounds in blue crabs collected from the Connecticut River estuary. Only five compounds were measured above the detection limits for these analytes in tissue samples. The mean measured copper and zinc concentrations were similar in samples of similar tissue types (copper in muscle was 17.3–17.6 mg/kg and in hep‐atopancreas was 46.8–54.2 mg/kg, and zinc in muscle was 45.0 mg/kg and in hepatopancreas was 42.0–59.0 mg/kg) taken from both estuaries. The similarity in the metal concentrations in crabs from the two different watersheds may suggest that these concentrations are naturally occurring in blue crab tissue. Toluene was detected (0.020 mg/L) in one muscle tissue sample from the Quinnipiac River. Di‐n‐octylphthalate and phenol were measured in muscle tissue from the Connecticut River at concentrations of 0.34 and 3.9 mg/L, respectively.