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Distribution of Trace Metals and Methylmercury in Soft Tissues of the Freshwater Eel Anguilla marmorata in Vietnam

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Abstract

This study investigated trace metals in water, sediment, and various organs of the mature eel Anguilla marmorata in the Ba River, Vietnam. The metal concentrations in water and sediment did not exceed the Vietnam water criteria and sediment background concentration, except for Mn and Pb in sediment. The results of metal analysis in eel specimens indicated that the liver and kidney were the dominant organs for almost all trace metals, whereas muscle tended to accumulate high levels of Hg and approximately 87.4–100% of Hg was methylmercury. A strong positive correlation between mercury levels in muscle and age were found, but there was no correlation between mercury and body size. Interestingly, a high concentration of Zn was found in the gonad and liver; this indicated that high levels of Zn in the liver might play a physiologically important role in the eel’s biological mechanisms during gonadal maturation. Though almost none of the metal concentrations in the muscle exceeded the reference doses of the U.S. EPA, approximately 80% of eels from the river contained mercury exceeding the recommended levels (0.30 μg/g) of the U.S. EPA and might present a risk for human consumption.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank three reviewers very much for their constructive suggestions and comments on the manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Doctoral Scholarship to Dung Quang Le. This work was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid No. 20688008 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Coastal Research Center, Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Akahama 2-106-1, Otsuchi, Iwate 028-1102, Japan

    Dung Quang Le, Naoko Chino & Takaomi Arai

  2. Institute of Marine Environment and Resources, 246 Danang, Haiphong, Vietnam

    Duc Cu Nguyen

  3. The Kobe College, 4-1 Okadayama, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 662-8505, Japan

    Hiroya Harino

  4. Department of Food and Health Science, Osaka City Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, 8-34 Tojocho, Tennoji-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, 543-0026, Japan

    Naoya Kakutani

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  1. Dung Quang Le
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Correspondence to Dung Quang Le.

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Le, D.Q., Nguyen, D.C., Harino, H. et al. Distribution of Trace Metals and Methylmercury in Soft Tissues of the Freshwater Eel Anguilla marmorata in Vietnam. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 59, 282–290 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-010-9479-4

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