Concentração de mercúrio total e avaliação de risco do consumo de peixes comercializados em São Luís, Maranhão

Abstract

Human exposure to Hg is usually due to fish consumption that contain concentrations that exceed the limit established by regulatory agencies. The municipal fish market of São Luís, MA, that is a public patrimony with more than 20 years of existence, represents one of the most frequented areas by fish consumers, and therefore was chosen as the place where were we acquired the species to the present study: Bagre bagre (Linnaeus, 1766), Micropogonias furnieri (Desmarest, 1823), Scomberomorus regalis (Bloch, 1793) e Cynoscion acoupa (Lacépede, 1802). The quantification of the total Hg in the samples and the exposure index by the ingestion of the fish were the objectives of this study. Total Hg concentrations were quantified by Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (CV-AAS). The median concentrations and standard error of total Hg for the species were: Bagre bagre (58.4 ± 8.1); Micropogonias furnieri (57.0 ± 8.4); Scomberomorus regalis (84.0 ± 11.3) and Cynoscion acoupa (263.1 ± 34.1). The values obtained for total Hg in the analyzed species, when compared to the legislation of the National Sanitary Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), sowed that no sample had a mean value higher than the allowed limit. However, the results suggest that if the consumption frequencies increases, the general population and the risk groups (pregnant, nursing mothers and children under 10 years of age) can be exposed to environmental health risk from the Hg presend in the consumed fish.