A preliminary assessment of mercury, methylmercury and other potentially toxic elements in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) from the Almadén mining district.

Autor: Barquero JI; Instituto de Geología Aplicada, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Pl. Manuel Meca 1, 13400, Almadén, Ciudad Real, Spain.; Escuela de Ingeniería Minera e Industrial de Almadén, Pl. Manuel Meca 1, 13400, Almadén, Ciudad Real, Spain., Hidalgo JJ; Instituto de Geología Aplicada, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Pl. Manuel Meca 1, 13400, Almadén, Ciudad Real, Spain.; Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. Av, Camilo José Cela 1, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain., Esbrí JM; Departamento de Mineralogía y Petrología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C. José Antonio Novais 12, 28040, Madrid, Spain., Higueras P; Instituto de Geología Aplicada, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Pl. Manuel Meca 1, 13400, Almadén, Ciudad Real, Spain.; Escuela de Ingeniería Minera e Industrial de Almadén, Pl. Manuel Meca 1, 13400, Almadén, Ciudad Real, Spain., García-Ordiales E; Departamento de Explotación y Prospección Minera, Escuela de Ingeniería de Minas, Energía y Materiales, Universidad de Oviedo, Independencia, 13, 33004, Oviedo, Spain. garciaefren@uniovi.es.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental geochemistry and health [Environ Geochem Health] 2024 Dec 23; Vol. 47 (1), pp. 27. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Dec 23.
DOI: 10.1007/s10653-024-02326-3
Abstrakt: The food chain of the Valdezogues River system is at considerable risk due to the presence of mercury in the environment and to intense bioaccumulation and biomagnification processes in some fish species, particularly in piscivorous. Moreover, the presence of mercury in fish is a reliable indicator of the presence of its most toxic form, methylmercury. Of interest is that selenium, when present together with mercury in food, represents a significant decrease in the risks related to the ingestion of methylmercury. This study presents the concentrations of total mercury, methylmercury, selenium, and other elements in Micropterus salmoides from a transect of the Valdeazogues River. This water course cuts across the Almadén mining district, which has been the most important producer of this element for over 2000 years. Results highlight the highest total- and methylmercury concentrations ranging between 0.47 and 7.61 mg kg -1 ww for total mercury, and with methylmercury representing between 79.7 and 92.1% of total mercury. These are the highest concentrations in the element ever found in this species. Seven sampling sites were examined along a 34 km long transect of the river, starting at an open pit lake corresponding to a decommissioned Hg mine (El Entredicho open pit, isolated from the river course), with the rest of the sites located downstream. Concentrations of mercury are the highest in this open pit lake and decrease steadily downstream. Concentrations of selenium are also high to very high, ranging between < 2.5 and 11.4 mg kg -1 ww. The Se/Hg molar ratio, as well as the HBV Se index, show values indicating low risk, except for specimens of low size/age from the most highly Hg contaminated site considered in this study. The rest of the potentially toxic elements (Se, As, Pb, Zn, Sb and Cu) show no concerning values even though the area is heavily populated with decommissioned polymetallic mines.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: