Essential and toxic metals in nine fish species for human consumption from two coastal lagoons in the Eastern Gulf of California

Abstract

With the aim of knowing concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn; percentage of daily mineral intake (PMI) for essential elements and percentage of weekly intake (PWI) of toxic metals in commercial fish from 2 coastal lagoons in the Eastern Gulf of California, analyses were carried out in 9 species. Highest values of Cd were detected in the liver of the sharks Sphyrna lewini and Carcharhinus leucas, Pb was mostly detected in the liver of S. lewini; Cu and Mn in the liver and gills of the mullet Mugil cephalus, respectively; Fe in the liver of the catfish Galeichthys peruvianus; and Zn in viscera of the catfish Cathorops fuerthii. From the point of view of public health and considering the edible portion, only in a few cases levels were above limits considered as safe for human consumption, such is the case of Cd in muscle of bull shark C. leucas (2.8 μ g g^{− 1}) and catfish G. peruvianus (1.55 μ g g^{− 1}), Pb in muscle of scalloped hammerhead S. lewini (5.2 μ g g^{− 1}), Cu in muscle of scalloped hammerhead S. lewini (20.6 μ g g^{− 1}) and Zn in muscle of Pacific herring Opisthonema libertate (53 μg g⁻¹) and S. lewini (104 μ g g^{− 1}).

Keywords:

• Trace metals
• commercial fish
• tissue distribution
• Guaymas lagoon
• Altata-Ensenada del Pabellón lagoon
• Gulf of California

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank F. Silva-Martínez for the identification of specimens, H. Bojórquez-Leyva for the laboratory assistance, and C. Ramírez-Jáuregui for the compilation of information.