Cadmium, mercury, iron, copper, manganese and zinc in the liver and kidney of the Icelandic lamb

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of cadmium, mercury, iron, copper, manganese and zinc in lamb liver and kidney from six areas in Iceland and to compare the results against aerial deposition data for the same elements obtained using moss as an indicator organism. The total number of samples was 96 for each organ. Cadmium was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry, mercury by cold-vapour atomic absorption, and iron, copper, manganese and zinc by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometry. Analysis of variance determined significance differences among means for areas, and Pearson's correlation coeffcients were calculated to study correlation among trace elements in liver and kidney. The mean fresh weight concentrations in lamb liver and kidney respectively were 0.045 and 0.058 mgkg(-1) for cadmium, 0.009 and 0.012 mgkg(-1) for mercury, 141 and 52.7 mgkg(-1) for iron, 28.1 and 2.89 mgkg(-1) for copper, 4.01 and 1.13 mgkg(-1) for manganese and 48.7 and 25.2 mgkg(-1) for zinc. Concentrations of cadmium, mercury and copper in the liver and kidney of the Icelandic lamb were low compared with data from other countries. Iron concentrations in the organs, however, were high. No sample exceeded 46% of the proposed maximum level for cadmium in organs for human consumption in the EC. Cadmium, mercury, iron and copper in the liver and kidney differed significantly between areas. Deposition of cadmium and copper in moss was not a usefull indicator in the evaluation of the susceptibility of the Icelandic lamb to accumulation of cadmium and copper. However, iron levels in Icelandic lamb liver showed the same pattern as results for iron from the moss study. The cadmium and mercury levels of organs from lambs grazing in the vicinity of Mount Hekla a few months after its eruption did not indicate a significant contamination from volcanic activity.

Taking the trophic bypass: aquatic‐terrestrial linkage reduces methylmercury in a terrestrial food web

“…This phenomenon could explain why, despite the remoteness and low industrial activity in northeastern Iceland, MeHg concentrations in terrestrial arthropods are elevated, although it is unclear why MeHg concentrations for midges are not similarly elevated. Notably, studies have found high MeHg concentrations in Icelandic lamb (Reykdal and Thorlacius 2001) and mosses (Ru¨hling and Steinnes 1998).…”

Determination of As, Cd, Cu, Hg and Pb in biological samples by modern electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

“…However, if inadequate equipment is used to conduct the acid digestion, unacceptable losses of analytes such as As and Hg may arise by volatilization. The widespread use of microwave assisted acid digestion with elevated pressure and temperature control has alleviated these problems [2,4,[7][8][9][10][12][13][14]17,20,[27][28][29]32,[35][36][37][38]41,43,[45][46][47][48][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][59][60][61][62][64][65][66]69,[71][72][73]76] and enabled the use of large sample masses (1-2 g) without the danger of vessel rupture and with a minimal chance for contamination. Microwave assisted processes are particularly important when the determination of As and Hg is targeted as complete mineralization of the sample can be achieved at low temperature preventing losses of these elements.…”

“…Matrix destruction based on oxidation with concentrated acids is the most widely used approach for biological samples because of its efficiency [1][2][3][4][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]20, (Table 1) in liberating the elements of interest from the molecular structures. Analyses of the resultant digest by ETAAS have several advantages: ease of manipulating the analyte concentrations to be in the optimum range of detection, availability of appropriate calibration standards and the use of less sophisticated instrumentation.…”

“…Additionally, the sample matrix may produce volatile or stable molecule forms of the analyte and influences the absorption signal. Nevertheless, differences in atomization efficiencies between the analyte in samples and in calibration standard solutions can be avoided and the analytical accuracy checked by using a reference standard with a similar matrix to that of the samples [1][2][3][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], or by comparing the slopes derived from aqueous standards with those from certified reference standards [1,6]. More recently, several improvements in ETAAS spectrometers have also contributed to partially or totally solving these problems and by facilitating direct analyses of solids thereby enhancing the capacity of ETAAS to compete with atomic emission spectrometry in terms of sensitivity and detection limits, while maintaining the current advantages of absorption techniques, such as their low cost.…”

“…Human activities release trace elements into the environment in chemical forms that may increase their bioavailability. Powerful analytical methods are indispensable for evaluating the impact of trace elements in studies of food toxicity [1][2][3][4][5], human health risk assessment [6,7] and environmental pollution by monitoring bioaccumulation in mosses [8][9][10], mushrooms [11], lichens [12,13], vascular plants [14][15][16] and animals [17,18] and to follow the processes of phyto-remediation of polluted soils [19]. Knowledge of plant bio-accumulators is also useful for evaluating the effects of trace elements on a geographic and time scale, providing information on trace element distributions, establishing their transport directions and localizing the emission sites [20,21].…”