title: Determination of moderately polar arsenolipids and mercury speciation in freshwater fish of the River Elbe (Saxony, Germany).
abstract: Arsenic and mercury are frequent contaminants in the environment and care must be taken to limit their entrance into the food chain. The toxicity of both elements strongly depends upon their speciation. Total amounts of As and Hg as well as their species were analyzed in muscle and liver of 26 fishes of seven freshwater fish species caught in the River Elbe. The median concentrations of As were 162 μg kg(-1) w.w. in liver and 92 μg kg(-1) w.w. in muscle. The median concentrations of total Hg were 241 μg kg(-1) w.w. in liver and 256 μg kg(-1) w.w. in muscle. While this level of Hg contamination of the freshwater fish in the River Elbe is significantly lower than 20 years ago, it exceeds the recommended environmental quality standard of 20 μg Hg kg(-1) w.w. by a factor of 5-50. However, the European maximum level of 500 μg Hg kg(-1) for fish for human consumption is rarely exceeded. Arsenic-containing fatty acids and hydrocarbons were determined and partially identified in methanolic extracts of the fish by HPLC coupled in parallel to ICP-MS (element specific detection) and ESI-Q-TOF-MS (molecular structure detection). While arsenobetaine was the dominant As species in the fish, six arsenolipids were detected and identified in the extracts of liver tissue in common bream (Abramis brama), ide (Leuciscus idus), asp (Aspius aspius) and northern pike (Esox lucius). Four arsenic-containing fatty acids (AsFA) and two arsenic-containing hydrocarbons (AsHC) are reported in freshwater fish for the first time. With respect to mercury the more toxic MeHg(+) was the major species in muscle tissue (>90% of total Hg) while in liver Hg(2+) and MeHg(+) were of equal importance. The results show the high relevance of element speciation in addition to the determination of total element concentrations to correctly assess the burden of these two elements in fish.
authors.affiliation: BAM-Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Department Analytical Chemistry, Richard-Willstaetter-Strasse 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Uriel
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Arroyo-Abad
authors.affiliation: Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie, Fischereibehörde, Gutsstrasse 1, 02699 Königswartha, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mothes
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Joachim
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Stärk
authors.affiliation: BAM-Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Department Analytical Chemistry, Richard-Willstaetter-Strasse 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piechotta
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: juergen.mattusch@ufz.de.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mattusch
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reemtsma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D005399:Fishes; D005858:Germany; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry; D045483:Rivers
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Arsenolipids; Element species; Freshwater fish; Metal contamination