HEAVY-METALS IN MARINE SPECIES FROM THE TARRAGONA COAST, SPAIN

The edible parts of several species of fish, mollusks and crustaceans from the Tarragona Coast (Spain) were analyzed for vanadium, manganese, chromium, zinc and cobalt. The nineteen marine species sampled are commercially important and may be useful to assess the uptake of toxic metals in a Mediterranean area particularly exposed to polluting inputs from the Ebro and Francoli rivers. The related levels ranged from less than 0.001 to 0.259-mu-g/g for vanadium; from 0.113 to 1.727-mu-g/g for manganese; from less than 0.0006 to 0.469-mu-g/g for chromium; from 3.35 to 29.79-mu-g/g for zinc; and from less than 0.0004 to 0.304-mu-g/g for cobalt. These concentrations were similar or even lower than previously reported data in other latitudes. These levels of vanadium, manganese, chromium, zinc and cobalt in the marine species of the Tarragona coast do not pose a health hazard for consumers.