Assessment and Monitoring of Fish Quality from a Coastal Ecosystem under High Anthropic Pressure: A Case Study in Southern Italy.

Giovanna Loredana La Torre,Nicola Cicero,Massimo Lucarini,Giovanni Bartolomeo,Giacomo Dugo,Rossella Vadalà,Rossana Rando,Andrea Salvo,Antonello Santini,Alessandra Durazzo

doi:10.3390/ijerph17093285

Abstract

Fish is a nutrient-rich food but, at the same time, consumption of fish is a possible source of exposure to heavy metals. Since many coastal Mediterranean areas suffer from great anthropomorphic pressure, the aim of this study was to assess the level of potentially toxic inorganic elements in different fish samples from the coastal zone of Southern Italy (Gela) where there is a high mortality rate linked to cancer disease and congenital malformations. The presence of mercury, cadmium, lead, nickel, arsenic, vanadium, and chromium was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The risk assessment was evaluated in terms of estimated daily intake by calculating the amount of potentially toxic elements that an average individual adult weighing 60 kg would ingest. Moreover the non-carcinogenic risk was estimated by target hazard quotient (THQ). The study evidenced significant contamination by inorganic elements, especially cadmium, which can be linked to industrial pollution. The THQ indexes, as indicators of human health, suggest that the consumption of fish from the study area is not free of risk.

Highlights

Pollution due to potentially toxic inorganic elements affects many coastal regions of the world [1,2,3].These chemicals are, not biodegradable and accumulate up to the trophic levels of the food chain, producing adverse effects on the marine ecosystem [4]
For the evaluation of health risks, it was assumed that the local consumption of fish products came only from the area under investigation
This is a first screening on exposure to toxic compounds through fish consumption in the high environmental risk area of Gela, and the data obtained allow us to put forward some considerations and hypotheses

Summary

Introduction

Pollution due to potentially toxic inorganic elements affects many coastal regions of the world [1,2,3]. These chemicals are, not biodegradable and accumulate up to the trophic levels of the food chain, producing adverse effects on the marine ecosystem [4]. Gela petrochemical industry is the main cause of marked chemical contamination in the South-East of Sicily [5], which should be one of the most attractive areas of the Region. Since 1960 the industrial development has generated such serious environmental and health-related damage that in 1990, that the Gela municipality and two neighboring municipalities (Niscemi and Butera) were included among. Public Health 2020, 17, 3285; doi:10.3390/ijerph17093285 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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