Human exposure to trace elements via farmed and cage aggregated wild Axillary seabream (Pagellus acarne) in a copper alloy cage site in the Northern Aegean Sea

Murat Yigit; Robert Dwyer; Barbaros Celikkol; Sevdan Yilmaz; Musa Bulut; Yesim Buyukates; Osman S Kesbic; Ümit Acar; Baris Ozalp; Masashi Maita; Sebahattin Ergün

doi:10.1016/j.jtemb.2018.07.020

Human exposure to trace elements via farmed and cage aggregated wild Axillary seabream (Pagellus acarne) in a copper alloy cage site in the Northern Aegean Sea

J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2018 Dec:50:356-361. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2018.07.020. Epub 2018 Jul 27.

Authors

Murat Yigit¹, Robert Dwyer², Barbaros Celikkol³, Sevdan Yilmaz⁴, Musa Bulut⁵, Yesim Buyukates⁶, Osman S Kesbic⁷, Ümit Acar⁸, Baris Ozalp⁹, Masashi Maita¹⁰, Sebahattin Ergün¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Departments of Aquaculture and Marine Technology, Canakkale, Turkey. Electronic address: muratyigit@comu.edu.tr.
² International Copper Association, Woods Hole, MA, USA. Electronic address: robert.dwyer@copperalliance.org.
³ University of New Hampshire, Department of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering, New Hampshire, Durham, UNH, USA. Electronic address: barbaros.celikkol@unh.edu.
⁴ Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Departments of Aquaculture and Marine Technology, Canakkale, Turkey. Electronic address: sevdanyilmaz@comu.edu.tr.
⁵ Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Departments of Aquaculture and Marine Technology, Canakkale, Turkey. Electronic address: mbulut@comu.edu.tr.
⁶ Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Department of Marine Science, Canakkale, Turkey. Electronic address: ybuyukates@comu.edu.tr.
⁷ Kastamonu University, Faculty of Fisheries and Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Kastamonu, Turkey. Electronic address: okesbic@kastamonu.edu.tr.
⁸ Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Vocational School of Bayramic, Department of Forestry, Canakkale, Turkey. Electronic address: umitacar@comu.edu.tr.
⁹ Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Department of Marine Science, Canakkale, Turkey. Electronic address: barisozalp@comu.edu.tr.
¹⁰ Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Department of Marine Science, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: mmaita@kaiyodai.ac.jp.
¹¹ Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Departments of Aquaculture and Marine Technology, Canakkale, Turkey. Electronic address: sergun@comu.edu.tr.

PMID: 30262304
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2018.07.020

Abstract

Axillary seabream (Pagellus acarne) farmed in a copper alloy mesh pen and wild individuals of P. acarne aggregated near the copper-alloy cages presented higher concentrations of trace metals in the liver, skin and gills than in fish muscle tissues in two batches of small and large fish sizes. Elevated mean levels of metals (mg kg^-1) in muscle tissues in both small and large fish size groups were observed in the rank order of Zn(3.43) > Fe(3.01) > Cu(0.59) > Mn(0.13) and Fe(3.82) > Zn(3.32) > Cu(0.62) > Mn(0.17) for copper cage-farmed fish, relative to ranked mean levels for Zn(2.64) > Fe(1.95) > Cu(0.25) > Mn(0.09) and Fe(5.79) > Zn(3.58) > Cu(0.58) > Mn(0.28) for the copper cage-aggregated wild fish. Nevertheless, trace metal concentrations in fish harvested from the copper cage or those of the cage-aggregated wild individuals in both size groups were far below maximum levels of seafood safety recommended by USEPA and FAO/WHO. Target hazard quotients, calculated to estimate the non-carcinogenic health risks of metals by consuming these fish, were below "1″ (THQ < 1), indicating that there were no potential health risks for humans when consuming copper-caged fish or wild-caught individuals aggregated around the copper mesh pen, with respect to the limits suggested by US Food and Drug Administration and EU Regulations for Seafood Consumption.

Keywords: Copper mesh pens; Health risk assessment; Human exposure; Seabream; Trace elements.

MeSH terms

Alloys / chemistry*
Animals
Copper / analysis*
Environmental Monitoring
Food Contamination / analysis
Humans
Sea Bream*
Seafood / analysis*
Trace Elements / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Alloys
Trace Elements
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Copper