Mercury accumulation profiles and their modification by interaction with cadmium and lead in the soft tissues of the cichlid Oreochromis aureus during chronic exposure

Abstract

Mercury, cadmium and lead have no well known biological functions in the animal body and are described as ultratrace elements. Their toxicity is due in part to competition with essential metals for binding sites and interference with sulfhydryl groups, essential for the normal functioning of enzymes and structural proteins. Cadmium blocks sulfhydryl groups in enzymes and competes for sites with zinc and calcium. To a lesser extent, lead may replace calcium in structures and react with sulfhydryl groups, while mercury has a high affinity for sulfhydryl groups and is lipid soluble in its methylated form. The chloroalkali industry is a major source of mercury pollution. When fish take up mercury, whether organic or inorganic, most of it accumulates in tissues in the organic form. Minamata disease in humans was first reported in 1956. The form of mercury responsible was found to be methylmercury, which being lipid soluble is much more toxic than inorganic mercury. It is important to monitor and assess the mercury content of fish which are caught, or farmed, for human consumption. Since many commercial animal feeds contain a fishmeal component, there is a risk of contamination of farm animals intended for human consumption. Since Oreochromis aureus (Steindachner)more » is cultured in North and Latin America, and other regions, it is a suitable model to use for studying the distribution of mercury in different tissues of food fish. Tilapias have been used effectively an constituents of pig food either directly or through fish silage or fishmeal. Laboratory studies of heavy metal pollution often overlook the effects of exposure to more than one heavy metal at the same time and often heavy metals occur in combination. In Jakarta Bay, high levels of cadmium were found together with mercury. The present study Investigates the effects of exposure to combinations of mercury with cadmium or lead on tissue accumulation of mercury. 19 refs., 3 tabs.« less