Metals in commercial fish in the Galapagos Marine Reserve: Contribution to food security and toxic risk assessment

Metal pollution in the marine environment can damage places with exceptional biodiversity such as the Galapagos Islands. For this reason, it is important to evaluate the toxic risk from metals derived from fish consumption and to perform a nutritional assessment. We sampled 20 individuals of demersa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gutiérrez Fernández, Ángel J., Franco-Fuentes, Eduardo, Hardisson de la Torre, Arturo, Moity, Nicolas, Ramírez-Gonz´ález, Jorge, Gonz´ález-Weller, Dailos, Paz Montelongo, Soraya, Andrade-Vera, Solange, Rubio Armendáriz, María del Carmen
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de La Laguna (ULL)
Repositorio:RIULL. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
OAI Identifier:oai:riull.ull.es:915/40418
Acceso en línea:http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/40418
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Galapagos
Demersal fishes
Pelagic fishes
Metals
ICP-OES
Toxic risk
Bioaccumulation
Descripción
Sumario:Metal pollution in the marine environment can damage places with exceptional biodiversity such as the Galapagos Islands. For this reason, it is important to evaluate the toxic risk from metals derived from fish consumption and to perform a nutritional assessment. We sampled 20 individuals of demersal (Caulolatilus princeps and Mycteroperca olfax) and pelagic (Thunnus albacares and Seriolella violacea) species. The levels of the toxic elements (Al, B, Ba, Cd, Ni, Pb and Sr), and the macroelements, microelements and trace elements (Ca, Cr, Fe, K, Li, Mn, Mo, Mg, Na, V and Zn) of species muscle tissue were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Spectrometry (ICP-OES). Demersal species have higher concentrations of Cr, K, Mg and Mo; while pelagic species have higher levels of Zn. M. olfax could potentially cause Cd toxicity so it is recommended not to ingest more than 86 and 73 g of this species (i.e. roughly, one serving) per week for men and women, respectively. None of the species could be marketed in Europe and the USA due to Cd level exceed the allowed limits by EFSA and FAO. Furthermore, the dietary intake of C. princeps is recommended due to its high concentration of Ca, Na, K, Mg and Cr, while T. albacares is recommended for people with Zn deficiency. However, due to the Cd level in C. princeps it is not recommended to ingest more than five servings per week. We attribute the source of metals in the studied fish from the volcanic origin of the islands rather than from human pollution. This is the first study that thoroughly estimate concentration of metals in commercial fish species and its contribution to food security in the Galapagos.