Pubblicazione scientifica

Mercury Detection in Benthic and Pelagic Fish Collected from Western Sicily (Southern Italy)

FILONE TECNOLOGICO	TEMA
economia circolare e sostenibilità	efficientamento energetico e sostenibilità delle operazioni in mare sostenibilità dell'ecosistema marino
trasformazione e commercializzazione	certificazione e marchi di qualità macchinari di ausilio alla lavorazione e trasformazione del pesce sistemi di trasporto, logistica e catena del freddo

RIASSUNTO

Simple Summary

In highly polluted water, fish can accumulate Hg at concentrations that cause risk to human health. This has occurred in Sicily (Southern Italy), where there is activity from the petrochemical pole. In this paper, we present concentrations of mercury in 14 fish species collected from western Sicilian coasts in 2013. A significant difference was found between fish species examined but not between pelagic and benthic fish. Four out of 130 analyzed samples showed mercury concentrations over the European limits.

Abstract

In highly polluted water, fish can accumulate mercury up to a concentration of 10 mgKg−1. This has occurred on the eastern coasts of Sicily (Southern Italy), probably due to the intense industrial activity of this area. However, little is known about Hg accumulation in fish of the western Sicilian coasts. In this work, we examined the Hg accumulation of 108 fish samples belonging to 14 species collected from western Sicilian coasts using a direct mercury analyzer. The samples showed a mean mercury concentration of 0.165 ± 0.22 mg kg−1 with a maximum in Lepidopus caudatus (1.72 mgKg−1), exceeding the limits provided by EC Reg. 1881/2006. The lowest Hg levels were found in Sparus aurata samples (0.001 mgKg−1). A significant difference was found between the fish species examined (p < 0.05). The comparison between benthic and pelagic species did not show statistical differences (p < 0.05). Fish food constitutes the main route of Hg uptake for humans. Only four of the 130 samples examined reached a mercury concentration over the European limits. The comparative analysis of Hg pollution for benthic and pelagic species did not confirm a different trend in metal contamination.

DATA

Data di pubblicazione: 22/08/2019

AUTORI

CAMMILLERI GAETANO
GALLUZZO FRANCESCO GIUSEPPE
FAZIO FRANCESCO
PULVIRENTI ANDREA
VELLA ANTONIO
LO DICO GIANLUIGI MARIA
MACALUSO ANDREA
CIACCIO GABRIELE
FERRANTELLI VINCENZO

ENTE DI AFFERENZA

FOOD DEPT INST ZOOPROFILATTICO SPERIMENTALE DELLA SICILIA
BIOMORF DEPT UNIV DEGLI STUDI DI MESSINA PIAZZA PUGLIATTI 1 98122 MESSINA ITALY
LIFE SCIENCE DEPT UNIV DEGLI STUDI DI MODENA E REGGIO EMILIA

RIVISTA

Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI, 9(9), 594

IMPACT FACTOR

N.D.

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