Cadmium and total mercury in some cephalopods from the South Adriatic Sea (Italy)

In the framework of a wide monitoring programme on the presence of heavy me tals in marine organisms caught in the South Adriatic Sea, cadmium and tota l mercury concentrations were determined in flesh and hepatopancreas of 512 specimens of two species of cephalopods. The aim of the study was to estab lish the quality of the marine food with respect to the health of consumers and to investigate cadmium and mercury distribution in organisms represent ing different habitats. For both elements, higher levels were found in spid er octopus (Octopus salutii) than in broadtail squid (Illex coindeti). Betw een the two different tissues analysed higher concentrations were observed in hepatopancreas than flesh. According to the rules in force, no flesh sam ple showed cadmium and total mercury concentrations exceeding the peak perm itted values of 2 mg/kg wet wt and 0.5 mg/kg wet wt respectively.