Voltammetric analysis of metallothioneins and copper (II) in fish for water biomonitoring studies

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2011

Authors

Pedro Goncalves Rodrigues (Author) Other; Luis Moreira Goncalves (Author) Other; Paulo Jorge Magalhaes (Author) Other; Joao Grosso Pacheco (Author) Other; Jose Antonio Rodrigues (Author) FCUP; Aquiles Araujo Barros (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Environmental Chemistry Letters

Vol. 9

Pages: 405-410

ISSN: 1610-3653

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology > Environmental engineering

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-002-NE1

DOI: 10.1007/s10311-010-0293-z

Abstract (EN): An major research area in environmental chemistry is the development of methods for the analysis of biomarkers. Metallothioneins are used as biomarkers in studies of heavy metals exposure in water, because metallothioneins are synthesized and accumulated when organisms are exposed to toxic concentrations of pollutants. In this work, simple and sensitive voltammetric methods were developed for metallothionein and copper (II) determinations in fish liver Lepomis gibbosus. Both analytical methodologies were optimized and applied to samples extracted from individuals previously submitted to sub-lethal toxicological trials with copper sulphate (CuSO(4)) and cadmium chloride (CdCl(2)). The obtained results showed that both methods are very precise, sensitive, and involve simple sample preparation processes. Moreover, metallothioneins showed better correlation with the toxic exposure than Cu(2+). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that hepatic metallothioneins and Cu(2+) contents are voltammetrically determined in order to be compared in their function as heavy metal biological indicators.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 6