Fish as an indicator of aquatic environment: Multielemental neutron activation analysis of nutrient and pollutant elements in fish from Indian coastal areas

Abstract

Fish is the main food in coastal areas and its analysis for toxic metals has been used as an indicator of the pollution status of the aquatic environment. Several different fish species from the three Indian coasts, Visakhapatnam in the east, Mumbai in the west and Mangalore in the south west and also inland freshwater fish from Nagpur in the central region for comparison were analyzed for up to 20 elements (As, Au, Ba, Br, Cl, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mn, Na, P, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Zn) by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Dried fish samples in powdered form were irradiated with thermal neutrons in a nuclear reactor followed by high resolution gamma ray spectrometry at different intervals. Several Reference Materials (RMs) of biological origin were analyzed for quality assurance and data validation. Elemental contents in different fish species vary in a wide range depending on the species, its size, location, and aquatic environment. Fish from Mangalore showed highest mean contents of Cr (14.8 AE 29.9 mg g À1 ), Cu (1005 AE 643 mg g À1 ) and Sb (849 AE 888 ng g À1 ) whereas those from Mumbai exhibited highest Hg (2066 AE 2146 ng g À1 ) and P (20.3 AE 4.63 mg g À1

Nutrient composition of the marine snail (Hexaplex trunculus) from the Tunisian Mediterranean coasts

“…Data on bromine concentration in seafood are relatively scarce. Br concentrations found in the snail hepatopancreas (4.20 mg kg −1 ) and meat (2.6 mg kg −1 ), are lower than those reported for fish from different regions of India 44. Br is known to have anti‐seizure properties, since potassium bromide or sodium bromide, appear to be effective trace elements regarding the prevention of hyperthyroid conditions 43…”

Availability, Toxicology and Medical Significance of Antimony

“…Seafood is generally considered not to be a source of contamination in most areas, although data from industrial coastal zones indicate that this is not always the case [171]. It is believed that industrial activity is the direct cause for the results of this study.…”