COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON TRACE-METAL LEVELS IN MARINE BIOTA .3. TYPICAL LEVELS AND ACCUMULATION OF TOXIC TRACE-METALS IN MUSCLE-TISSUE AND ORGANS OF MARINE ORGANISMS FROM DIFFERENT EUROPEAN SEAS

In 15 marine species of different trophic levels from the Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, and Baltic Sea (> 100 specimens) and selected tissue samples, Cd, Pb, Hg, and Cu, and in several species also Ni and As, have been determined. The routinely applied methods were several versions of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Accuracy of the obtained data was checked by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (Cd, Pb, Cu), by the application of working standards, Standard Reference Materials, and the participation in external intercomparison programs. Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and algae (Ulva lactuca) from the Gulf of La Spezia showed the expected efficient accumulation of Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, and As, while Hg values were comparatively low. Muscle tissue from teleost fishes, which, particularly in certain pelagic organisms of the Mediterranean Sea, contains elevated Hg levels as methyl-Hg, shows in all specimens studied very low Pb levels, ≤0.01 μg/g (ppm) fresh wt, and Cd levels, 0.003 μg/g (ppm) fresh wt, i.e., below and close to the practically attainable determination limit, respectively. Muscle tissue of mollusks and crustaceans (e.g., Sepia officinalis and Portunus sp.) had considerably higher Cd and also Cu levels compared with those of teleost fishes. Cd values in the ppm range found in the liver of the pelagic fishes Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) from the North Sea were only slightly reflected in muscle meat. Pb levels in organs of all specimens analyzed were quite moderate, even in bone; Hg levels in several liver samples showed roughly about the same order of magnitude as observed in muscle tissue and remained remarkably lower in the gastrointestinal tract and bone. © 1979.