Total mercury content in selected tissues of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) pond farmed in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the total mercury content in selected tissues (muscle, spleen, kidney, liver, scales, brain and gonads) of common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Thirty individuals of market carp caught in three ponds (Jaroslavicky, Strachotin, Vrkoc) located in the Morava River basin in the Czech Republic were used for this study. Total mercury was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry on AMA 254 device. The highest total mercury content was found in the muscle of carp (7.6 ± 2.8 µg·kg-1 in Jaroslavicky, 6.8 ± 2.3 µg·kg-1 in Vrkoc, and 12.9 ± 4.3 µg·kg-1 in Strachotin), followed by levels in caudal kidney, liver, spleen, and brain; the lowest mercury content was determined in gonads and scales. The comparison revealed that individual localities significantly differ in the mercury content in muscle, caudal kidney, liver and spleen samples. However, in all cases the values of the mercury content in muscle complied with the hygienic limit of up to 0.3 mg·kg-1, which means that mercury does not pose a risk to the consumers of these pond farmed fish and that the benefits of eating fish meat outweigh the potential risk in terms of mercury content.