PARENT SESSION
70 - Metal Pollution: From Exposure to Ecological Effects
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM, Wednesday, 15 May 2002
Exhibition Area

(70-12) Arsenic Accumulation in Aquacultural Liza macrolepis from the Blackfoot Disease Area in Taiwan.

Lin, Ming-Chao^*,1, Liao, Chung-Min², Liu, Chen-Wuing², Shao, Kwang-Tsao³, Lin, H.-Y.⁴, Cheng, H.-H.⁴, Chen, Y.-P.⁴, Chen, Y.-C.⁴, ¹ Life Science Division, General Education Center, Nanhua University, Chiayi, Taiwan² Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan³ Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan⁴ Inst. Environment Mngt, Chiayi, Taiwan

ABSTRACT- This paper presents the arsenic (As) concentration in aquaculture water in the blackfoot disease (BFD) area in Taiwan. The bioaccumulation of As by the aquacultural fish Liza macrolepis was investigated. The coastal regions of southwestern Taiwan are subjected to polluted groundwater of As. Nowadays most of the people living in these areas do not drink water from wells, however, the groundwater is still used for aquaculture. The mean concentration of As in the water of aquacultural farms in the BCD area is 79.9 ± 60.6 g L^-1. Large-scale mullet L. macrolepis, collected from the farms with a measured As concentration 169.7 ± 68.8 g L^-1, contains a As concentration of 2.35 ± 0.93 g g^-1. The BCF value of As for Liza macrolepis was determined to be 13.85. The As concentration in the fish showed a significant negative correlation with the body weight of fish: C_b = 71.827w^-0.8579, where C_b is the As concentration in fish body (g g^-1) and w is the body weight of fish (g). The processes that caused the decrease in the concentrations of As in the larger fish may due to a "growth dilution" effect. Since using the groundwater for aquaculture may cause an overexposure of As, the consumption of cultured fish from the BCD area may pose a risk to human health.

Key words: Arsenic, Bioaccumulation, Blackfoot disease, Fish