Tissue Distribution of Mercury and Its Relationship with Selenium in Atlantic Bluefin Tuna ( Thunnus thynnus L.)

Antonio Belmonte, Pilar Muñoz, Juan Santos-Echeandía and Diego Romero
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Antonio Belmonte: TAXON Estudios Ambientales S.L. C/Uruguay s/n, 30820 Alcantarilla, Spain
Pilar Muñoz: Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Campus de Espinardo, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Juan Santos-Echeandía: Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Subida a Radio Faro, 50-52, 36390 Vigo, Spain
Diego Romero: Área de Toxicología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Campus de Espinardo, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: Mercury (Hg) is an important heavy metal to consider in marine predators, while selenium (Se) has a natural antagonistic effect on this metal in fish. The Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT, Thunnus thynnus ) is a pelagic top-level predator of the trophic web and their Hg muscular content is an object of concern in food safety. Nevertheless, little is known about levels of this metal in remaining tissues, which may be important as by-product source, and its relationship with Se. Thus, concentration of both elements in liver, kidney, brain, gill and bone, in addition to muscle, of ABFT were determined. The kidney was the tissue with the highest concentration of Hg (Total-Hg, THg) and Se, and the Se/THg concentration ratio was similar in all tissues, except bone and muscle. The Selenium Health Benefit Value (HBV Se ) was positive in each specimen and tissue, indicating that the Se plays an important role against Hg not only in the muscle.

Keywords: Atlantic bluefin tuna; farmed; Mediterranean Sea; mercury; selenium; tissues (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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