Metal concentrations in fishes collected within Peru’s oldest and largest Petroleum Concession
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5132.eec.2026.01.04%20Palavras-chave:
Indigenous health, fossilf fuel extraction, fish contamination, human health risk assessmentResumo
More than fifty years of poor industry practices during the exploration and exploitation of petroleum in northeastern Peru have left a legacy of contamination in the headwaters of the Amazon River. This remote region is home to several Indigenous groups who rely on the natural environment to provide them with food, fiber, fuel, and medicines. There is concern that exposure to contaminants associated with petroleum extraction may be affecting the health of these Indigenous populations. To address this concern, a landscape-level cross-sectional assessment of blood and urine concentrations of potentially toxic metals, and associated factors, in the region’s residents was conducted by Peru’s national health institute in 2016. The study also included evaluation of metals in fish tissues consumed by the local Indigenous inhabitants. Fish species representing six trophic guilds were collected from rivers and lakes utilized for subsistence fishing. Metals associated with produced water and oil spills (arsenic, barium, cadmium, lead, and mercury) were analyzed in viscera and carcass separately. The carcasses of the majority of the fish had concentrations of arsenic and lead at detection levels. Except for mercury and barium, all metals were higher in viscera compared with carcass. Geographic differences in fish tissue metal results were detected and, in some cases, could be associated with oil industry activity as well as previously reported results of metals in people consuming these fish. Overall, the calculated target hazard quotient for fish consumption based on arsenic and mercury concentrations was greater than 1 for adults across all river basins. Safe consumption reference limits were also exceeded for lead and cadmium for children in most of the river basins. This study has provided a unique opportunity to examine fish in the dietary exposure pathway for a human subsistence population in areas contaminated by petroleum exploitation.
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