Lead and Cadmium Levels in Mussels and Fishes from Three Coastal Ecosystems of NW Mexico and Its Potential Risk due to Fish and Seafood Consumption

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of cadmium and lead in edible tissue of Mytella charruana and Mugil curema from three coastal lagoons (Altata Ensenada del Pabellon, AEP; Urias, URI; and Teacapan, TEA) of Sinaloa (NW of Mexico) during an annual cycle, to compare maximum permissible levels (MPLs) of with legal limits of cadmium and lead, and to assess potential risk for consumers. Samples of charry mussel (M. charruana) and white mullet (M. curema) were collected every two months between July 2005 and July 2006 in three of the main lagoon systems in the state of Sinaloa (NW Mexico): Altata-Ensenada del Pabellon (AEP), Urias (URI) and Teacapan (TEA), which represent different pollution. The range of mean levels in the studied lagoons were as follows: in M. charruana Cd 0.064 to 0.222 and Pb 0.206 to 0.482 μg g-1 ww, respectively and in M. curema Cd 0.003 to 0.018 and Pb 0.013 to 0.019 μg g-1 ww, respectively. Taking into account national and international regulations, the Cd and Pb levels detected in M. curema apparently do not pose a risk for human health. Nonetheless, for M. charruana the scenario is different, some levels of Cd in TEA surpassed maximum permissible levels (MPL’s) of European Commission (EC) and Codex regulations and on the other hand, Pb levels in AEP rather than URI surpassed MPLs of national and international regulations. Although some levels exceed legal limits, risks for human health are diluted because EDI - of Cd and Pb - via consumption of edible tissue of fish were far below the provisional permissible tolerable daily intake (PTDI) values established by FAO/WHO. However, this situation is different if we taking into account, different patterns of consumption in mussels, few EDI values exceed the established levels of PTDI.