Chemical elements in the muscle tissues of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) from selected lakes in Latvia

Fish is a significant source of essential nutrients, as well as toxic elements in the human diet. Concentration of 17 elements was determined in muscles of eels (Anguilla anguilla) collected from five fishing lakes in the territory of Latvia. The concentration of main elements determined in muscle tissues varied within the following ranges: for Pb, 0.019–0.047; Cd, 0.0051–0.011; Hg, 0.13–0.36; Cu, 0.76–0.92; Zn, 28–42; and As, 0.13–0.23 mg kg−1 wet weight. A positive correlation was revealed between the concentration of Hg in muscles and fish length in inland lakes. Concentration of metals in muscle tissues of eels from brackish coastal and inland lakes was without statistically significant difference. This research demonstrated that the elemental content of Cd and Pb in muscles of the examined fish was lower than the maximum allowed threshold set by the European Union legislation. Mercury content was over the threshold limit for all the analyzed eels if to compare with the Water Framework Directive Environmental Quality Standards. On other side, only 7 % of analyzed fish have indicated values that are over threshold limits for mercury established by the European Union food legislation. The current study contributes to the implementation of Water Framework Directive in Latvia by collection of information necessary for the further protection measures of waters. To our knowledge, this study provides the first data on multielemental bioaccumulation in muscle tissues of European eels collected from fishing lakes of Latvia.