Evaluation of Potentially Toxic Elements in Mundaú Lagoon (Maceió, AL-Brazil): Systematic Environmental Monitoring of Water and Food Quality

The Mundau lagoon (Maceio, AL), besides being relevant socially, economically, and culturally, also in its surroundings, presents an intense anthropic occupation, characterized by a large population and the industrial activities presence. In this systematic environmental monitoring study (from 2017 to 2019), concentrations of Al, As, Bi, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sn, V, and Zn in surface waters, and total Hg content in the bivalve Mytella charruana (sururu) were recorded, using cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (or hydride generation) (HG/CV AFS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and chronopotentiometry. In the water samples, the following elements presented concentrations above the values recommended by the National Council for the Environment (CONAMA), in µg L−1: Al (24.4−2008), Cu (1.88-13.03), Fe (84.9-4107), Hg (<0.0069-2.92), Mn (10.65-200), Pb (192-1443) and Zn (121-997), and therefore, the water was classified following the water pollution index (WPI), as highly impure and polluted. The Hg content in sururu, the main food in Mundau lagoon, ranged from 0.036-0.63 mg kg−1 (dry weight). Further, the chemometric evaluation of the data based on the principal component and correlation analysis suggested a chemical-defined profile at the different sampling points.