Metal levels in flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon) and great sculpin (Myoxocephalus polyacanthocephalus) from Adak Island, Alaska: Potential risk to predators and fishermen
- Nelson Biological Laboratory, Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8082 (United States) and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute and Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States)
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute and Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States)
- Nelson Biological Laboratory, Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8082 (United States)
- Adak, Aleutian Islands, AK 99546 (United States)
Increasingly there is a need to assess the contaminant levels in fish as indicators of the health and well-being of both the fish and their consumers, including humans. This paper examines the levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, and selenium in the kidney, liver, and muscle of great sculpin and flathead sole from Adak Island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Both species are consumed by the local Aleuts and others. There were significant differences in the levels of heavy metals as a function of tissue for both fish species; the liver of sculpin and sole generally had the highest levels of most metals, except for arsenic, lead, and selenium. Sole had significantly higher mean levels of arsenic in kidney (32,384 vs. 531 ppb, wet weight), liver (18,954 vs. 2532 ppb), and muscle (19,452 vs. 1343 ppb) than did sculpin. Sole also had higher mean levels of cadmium (230 vs. 63 ppb), lead (1236 vs. 48 ppb), mercury (150 vs. 107 ppb), and selenium (5215 vs. 1861 ppb) in kidney than did sculpin. There were significant correlations among weight and length measurements for both species. However, except for mercury, there were few significant correlations among tissue types for most metals. Only mercury and manganese levels were significantly correlated with size for sculpin (but not for sole). Levels of arsenic, lead, and mercury may pose a risk to predators that consume them, and arsenic and mercury may pose a risk to human consumers.
- OSTI ID:
- 20861685
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Research, Journal Name: Environmental Research Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 103; ISSN ENVRAL; ISSN 0013-9351
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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