Bioacumulação de Mercúrio (Hg) em espécies de moluscos bivalves - uma breve revisão.

Abstract

Heavy metals are highly dangerous pollutants for the environment, being released mainly by anthropogenic sources. Among them, mercury stands out as a toxic contaminant, which can be bioaccumulated by biota and biomagnified along food chains. In the aquatic environment, mercury can contaminate species of significant importance to the human diet, such as bivalve molluscs, representing a risk to the health of their consumers. This study aimed to analyze, through the scientific literature, levels of current concentrations of mercury in species of bivalve molluscs from different regions of the world. Data were collected from scientific articles published between 2019 and 2023, available in the SciELO, Periódicos CAPES and Science Direct databases. In all, 20 articles that reported mercury concentrations in 28 species of bivalve molluscs were analyzed. In most species, the mercury level was below the safety limit established by the World Health Organization (WHO). The soft tissue was the most used part in the analyses. The orders Veneroida (clams) and Mytilidae (mussels) were the most evaluated in the surveys. It is important that aquatic ecosystems are biomonitored, considering the impacts that mercury can cause on biota and human health. Keywords: Biomagnificação; Metais pesados; Pescado; Toxicidade; saúde humana.