Total Mercury in the Mangrove Oyster Crassostrea corteziensis of the Subtropical Urías Lagoon (NW Mexico)

Özet

Oysters of Urías lagoon (NW Mexico) were collected every second month from November 2012 to September 2013, todetermine the variations of their mercury ($Hg^{2+}$) content and assess their suitability for human consumption. Concentrationswere significantly higher in November than in March and May, which indicates that variability does not depend on thealternation of dry and rainy seasons, and is probably related to the reproductive cycle of this species. In view of the lowapparent seafood consumption in Mexico and given the low mean $Hg^{2+}$ concentrations (0.07-0.26 µg g-1, dw), consumption ofthis oyster does not seem to pose risks to the largest part of the population, but the local fishing communities are the onesmost likely to be at risk, because of their higher seafood consumption.