A comparison of fish tissue mercury concentrations from homogenized fillet and nonlethal biopsy plugs

作     者：Alexis Knight Satyendra P.Bhavsar Brian A.Branfireun Peter Drouin Ram Prashad Steve Petro Moustapha Oke 

作者机构：Department of Biology and Centre for Environment and Sustainability Western University Ontario Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks 

出 版 物：《Journal of Environmental Sciences》 (环境科学学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2019年第31卷第6期

页      面：137-145页

核心收录：

学科分类：09[农学] 0903[农学-农业资源与环境] 

基　　金：Vicky Chen of University of Toronto University of Toronto, UofT 

主　　题：Hg or mercury Fish advisory Nonlethal Monitoring Muscle tissue Biopsy punch plug 

摘      要：The use of biopsy plugs to sample fish muscle tissue for mercury analyses is a viable alternative to lethal sampling; however, the practice has yet to be widely implemented in routine monitoring due to concerns about variability of mercury concentrations in fish muscle tissues. Here we examine distribution of mercury in fillets of four fish species(Walleye, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass and Lake Trout), suitability of left/right side of fillet for biopsy sampling, and appropriateness of re-using a biopsy punch. The results showed that average mercury concentrations in left and right fillets of fish are *** concentrations in biopsy plug samples, taken from the anterior dorsal area of the fish fillet, were statistically equivalent to the mercury concentrations in homogenized fillets. There was no discernible cross contamination between samples when a biopsy punch was reused after washing in hot soapy water, and as such, biopsy punches can be recycled during sampling to reduce the sampling cost. If a tissue mass collected from a specific site on the fillet is insufficient, then we suggest sampling corresponding locations on the other fillet rather than sampling two adjacent sites on one fillet to obtain more tissue. The results presented here can improve the accuracy of fillet biopsy plug sampling,minimize fish mortality for mercury monitoring, and reduce labor and material costs in monitoring programs.