Implicações na saúde humana: Mercúrio Total em Camarão, Avium, Piracuí e Pirarucu seco comercializados em Santarém

Abstract

The Tapajós River has areas of gold mining (Au) with the use of mercury (Hg), this toxic metal can cause damage to health. Through the action of microorganisms, the Hg present in the rivers undergoes methylation, being changed to methylmercury (MeHg), which can contaminate the aquatic fauna present there and consequently expose the population that consumes fish and crustaceans from the Tapajós River. This metal is able to bioaccumulate in fish, so it is necessary to monitor the aquatic fauna of the region, especially that used in food. The city of Santarém is bathed by the Tapajós River and they hold fish as the basis of their nutrition, before that we analyzed the levels of Total Mercury (HgT) identified in Shrimp (Macrobrachium amazonicum), Avium (Acetes paraguayensis), Piracuí (fish meal) and in the dry Pirarucu (Arapaima gigas). Shrimp and Avium are natural products, Piracuí and dry Pirarucu are by-products derived from fish from the Tapajós River. The samples were collected at fairs in the city of Santarém between October 2018 and March 2019 and were subsequently analyzed in the Direct HgT Analyzer DMA 80. The concentrations (mean±DVP) in mg/kg during the 5 months of analysis were 0.0067±0.0034 for shrimp, 0.1054±0.0324 for Avium, 0.0996±0.0841 for Piracuí and 0.3293±0.2226 for dried Pirarucu. In view of the exposed values, it is possible to conclude that although the analyzed samples did not exceed the limit defined by Anvisa (0.5 mg/kg for crustaceans, 0.5 mg/kg for non-carnivorous fish and 1.0 mg/kg for carnivores), it is necessary to monitor the levels of Hg in fish and assess the amount of these products consumed weekly, since, according to the WHO, the total weekly intake of MeHg/kg of body weight should not exceed 1.6 μg.