Heavy metals in fishes from Culiacan Valley, Sinaloa, Mexico

Levels of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were evaluated in edible muscle, gill and viscera of the fishes Mugil curema and Tilapia mossambica, collected in April 1988 from the Chiricahueto and Bataoto lagoons and Culiacán River, on the northwestem coast of Mexico. In general, the highest concentrations were found in the fishes from Chiricahueto lagoon and the lowest in fishes from the Culiacán River. The levels observed were compared with those reported for other areas in the same species or genus. The Cu concentrations in the edible muscle of T. mossambica for this study (5.6 µg/g) were twofold than the levels found in Mexicali Valley, Baja California, Mexico (2.6 µg/g). The Cu levels in edible muscle of M. curema (6.3 µg/g) were threefold than the Cu levels of Mugil cephalus (1.9 µg/g) reported for the Miami coast. Although the Cu levels were relatively high, they did not exceed those established by the Intemational Public Health Legislation

Contenido de Cd, Cu, Pb y Zn en el camarón blanco Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) de seis lagunas costeras de Sinaloa, NW de México

Litopenaeus vannamei is the most important shrimp species in the traditional fishery of the coastal lagoons of the State of Sinaloa (NW Mexico), and most of the landings are consumed locally. Since these lagoons receive important volumes of agricultural, industrial and urban effluents, consumption of this shrimp could pose risks to human health. The mean content of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn determined in the hepatopancreas of shrimp from commercial landings from six lagoons of Sinaloa were higher than those of the muscle. There was a weak correlation between the Zn content of the two tissues (P.0.05) and the correlations were not significant for Cd, Cu and Pb (P>0.1). The concentrations found in the shrimp muscle were comparable or lower than those determined in commercial landings of different crustaceans from other geographic areas. According to our results the consumption of local shrimp poses no risks to human health.El camaron Litopenaeus vannamei es la especial mas importante en la pesqueria tradicional de las lagunas costeras del estado de Sinaloa (NW de Mexico), y la mayoria de sus capturas son consumidas localmente. Estas lagunas reciben grandes volumenes de efluentes agricolas, industriales y urbanos, por lo cual el consumo del camaron podria representar un riesgo para la salud humana. El contenido medio de Cd, Cu, Pb y Zn en el hepatopancreas de las capturas comerciales en seis lagunas de Sinaloa fue mayor que su respectivo valor en el musculo; no se observo una correlacion entre el contenido de Cd, Cu y Pb de los dos tejidos (P>0,1); en el caso de Zn la correlacion resulto significativa con un bajo nivel de probabilidad (P.0,05). La concentracion en el musculo del camaron fue similar o menor que la determinada en capturas comerciales de otros crustaceos en otras regiones. Con base en estos resultados, el consumo de los camarones locales no constituye un riesgo para la salud humana