Total mercury was quantified in 11 fresh-water fish species from different commercial origins. Mercury has been used in agriculture, industry, mining, etc. Consequently there was an increase of mercury discharge to environment, that enters into the throphic chain. In this context, the man, through the consumption of foods, mainly fishery products, turns vulnerable to mercury. The obtained results for mandi - Pimelodus maculatus, tilápia - Tilapia sp, sagüiru - Cyphocharax modestus, lambari- Astyanax sp, sardela - Triportheus sp, traíra - Hoplias sp, curimbatá - Prochilodus sp and dourado - Salminus sp, commercialized in São Paulo-SP, and for jaraqui - Semaprochilodus insignis, curimatã - Prochilodus nigricans and matrinchã - Brycon sp, from Brazilian Amazon region, varied from 0,01 to 0,39mgHg/Kg. The present work results, from the Public Health’s point of view, were lower than the Brazilian tolerance limits of 0,5 and 1,0mgHg/Kg for non-predatory and predatory species, respectively. Mercury levels in carnivorous species (traíra and dourado) varied from 0,26 to 0,39mgHg/Kg. The expectation on the possibility of high mercury levels occurrence in the studied species was not confirmed.
mercury; fresh-water fish; fish
