Acute intraperitoneal mercury chloride contamination and distribution in liver, muscle and gill of a neotropical fish Hoplias malabaricus (BLOCK, 1794)

Abstract

The present study investigated with the distribution of mercury chloride in muscle, liver and gills of Hoplias malabaricus contaminated through intraperitoneal injection (6 μg in 0.1mL of PBS) for a period of 24, 48, 72 and 96h. The liver, gill and muscle were analyzed for mercury content in an ICP/AES (Varian Liberty II) with vapor generating accessory (VGA 77). The muscle and liver tissues presented the same contamination pattern increasing concentrations in 24 h of exposure with a decrease in Hg concentration with 72 h and a new increase in Hg concentrations with 96 h of exposure. The Hg concentrations in contaminated organisms were always higher than the control although only for liver samples the difference was statistically significant. Liver samples always presented higher Hg contents when compared with gill and muscle samples.