Assessment of the Lead Content in Perna perna Mussels in the Metropolitan Region of the Rio de Janeiro City

Authors

  • Cristina Baptista Maia Departamento de Química Analítica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
  • A. C. M. Almeida Departamento de Química, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
  • F. R. Moreira Laboratório de Toxicologia, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública (ENSP), Centro de Estudos da Saúde do Trabalhador e Ecologia Humana (CESTEH), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5132/jbse.2006.02.020

Keywords:

Perna perna mussel, lead, bioaccumulation, exposure risks, electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

Guanabara Bay is the most important estuarine system in Rio de Janeiro City and receives the most untreated effluents of the city. As a consequence of this impact the beaches in the metropolitan zone are heavily polluted. Bivalves mollusks are able to store a wide variety of pollutants from very diluted solutions without visible damage. The Perna perna mussel is a bivalve organism that accumulates metal and thus it is considered an environmental pollution indicator. Native from the region, this species is consumed in the diet by poor people since it is easily available. Lead is one of the most common pollutants in the environment. It is considered toxic to human beings and animals and without any physiological known function in the organism. Lead toxic effects can affect almost all organs and systems of the body. In this work electro-thermal atomic absorption spectrometry was used to determine lead concentration in Perna perna mussels collected at Flamengo, Vermelha and Vidigal beaches located in the metropolitan region of the Rio de Janeiro City. The mean lead concentration found was (2.0 ± 0.93 mg.kg–1) almost 10 times greater than that found for non exposed mussel, used as the control group from Penha (SC). This value is the upper limit allowed by the Brazilian legislation (2.0 mg.kg–1), meaning a risk to those people with a rich diet in mussels.

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Published

20-12-2006

How to Cite

Maia, C. B., Almeida, A. C. M., & Moreira, F. R. (2006). Assessment of the Lead Content in Perna perna Mussels in the Metropolitan Region of the Rio de Janeiro City. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Contamination, 1(2), 195–198. https://doi.org/10.5132/jbse.2006.02.020

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2006)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2006 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Contamination

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