Banca de DEFESA: WILLIAM QUARESMA FERREIRA

Determination of essential and potentially toxic elements in different tissues of fish species
 from the Amazon region

Fish, tissues, Amazon region, elemental composition, ICP OES, multivariate analysis.

Fish represent one of the primary sources of intake of vitamins, proteins, and minerals, contributing to a balanced and beneficial diet for humans. However, to assess the contamination risks of the environment in which they live, it is necessary to determine the concentration of essential and potentially toxic elements that can pose severe risks to human health. Therefore, this study aims to determine essential and potentially toxic elements (Al, As, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Na, P, S, and Zn) in eight tissues (bladder, gills, stomach, liver, gonad, intestine, muscle, and kidney) of seven species of fish from the Amazon region, such as Plagioscion squamosissimus, Hypophthalmus edentatus, Brycon amazonicus, Prochilodus nigricans, Colossoma macropomum, Mugil liza, and Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii. The determination of analytes in fish tissues was evaluated by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) after microwave-assisted digestion of the samples. The method's accuracy was assessed by analyzing two certified reference materials: fish protein (DORM-4) and oyster tissue (NIST 1566b). The concentration ranges of the elements determined in the samples were (in mg kg^-1): Al (1.35-6568); As (0.67-5.76); Ca (11.25-24303); Cr (0.36-3.94); Cu (0.13-54.65); Fe (2.42-5085); K (433-4905); Mn (0.05-399); Na (68-2674); P (313-13874); S (436-3787), and Zn (0.59-46.34). Multivariate analysis techniques (PCA and HCA) were used to assess whether or not there were trends and/or agglomeration between different fish species and tissues according to the levels of the analytes studied.