Dear colleagues,
The following paper has been published:
J. Pompe-Gotal, E. Srebocan, H. Gomercic, A. Prevendar Crnic (2009):
Mercury concentrations in the tissues of bottlenose dolphins (/Tursiops
truncatus/) and striped dolphins (/Stenella coeruloalba/) stranded on
the Croatian Adriatic coast. Veterinarni Medicina 54: 598-604.
ABSTRACT: The concentrations of total mercury in muscle (17 samples),
liver (16 samples) and kidney tissues (16 samples) of both bottlenose
/(Tursiops truncatus) /and striped dolphins /(Stenella coeruloalba)
/were analyzed by cold vapour atomic absorption (AA) spectroscopy. The
dolphins were found dead at different locations along the east Adriatic
over a 10-year period starting in 1990. In this study, the magnitude of
mercury contamination of dolphins which are indicators of contamination
of the Adriatic as well as the Mediterranean Sea was determined. Our
results represent the first investigation of heavy metal concentrations
in dolphins sampled along the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea. Total
mercury levels were high, ranging from 1.51 to 136.7 mg/kg in muscle,
from 2.04 to 143.1 in kidney and from 10.35 to 1 833 mg/kg in liver
tissues (expressed as wet weight). These results were examined for
differences based upon age and tissue type. A high correlation was
observed between total mercury concentration and age, and adult dolphins
(10 samples) contained statistically significant higher concentrations
of mercury compared to juvenile (seven samples) dolphins. Mercury
concentrations were generally the highest in liver tissue. The presence
of high mercury levels in dolphins is attributed to natural as well as
anthropogenic sources.
You can download the paper at: http://vri.cz/docs/vetmed/54-12-598.pdf
or contact:
Prof. dr. Hrvoje Gomercic
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb
Heinzelova 55
10000 Zagreb
Croatia
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Best regards,
Hrvoje Gomercic
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