Pa. Amundsen et al., HEAVY-METAL CONTAMINATION IN FRESH-WATER FISH FROM THE BORDER REGION BETWEEN NORWAY AND RUSSIA, Science of the total environment, 201(3), 1997, pp. 211-224
The contents of Cd, Cu, Cr, Hg, Ni and Zn in muscle, liver and gills w
ere studied in whitefish, perch, pike, brown trout, burbot and vendace
from three lake localities in a watercourse in the border region betw
een Norway and Russia, in the vicinity of mining activity and several
metallurgic smelters. The contents of Cd and Ni in fish tissue increas
ed with increasing proximity to the smelters, whereas the other elemen
ts showed similar concentrations at the three localities. The recorded
heavy metal concentrations appeared to be within the ranges reported
for fish from other metal-contaminated lakes, and higher than comparab
le observations from unpolluted systems. The heavy metal concentration
s were usually lowest in muscle and highest in the liver or the gills.
Significant differences in metal concentration levels were found betw
een different fish species, but Hg was the only metal where these spec
ies differences were possibly related to biomagnification. For the oth
er elements, the concentrations generally appeared to be inversely rel
ated to the trophic level of the fish species. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scien
ce B.V.