Common carp as an ecological indicator of environmental pollution in reservoirs of southern Spain: inferring the environmental risks of anthropogenic activities

Abstract

Extraction and mineral processing, as well as the waste generated by old abandoned mining sites, are the main sources of contamination of water bodies and lands by potentially toxic elements (PTEs). The common carp (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus 1758) has been reported to be a good ecological indicator of environmental pollution in water bodies. Hence, we evaluated the concentration of eleven PTEs (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in different tissues of common carp in two reservoirs of the province of Jaén, southern Spain: El Tranco de Beas (S1) and La Fernandina (S2). We also assessed the concentration of PTEs in water and sediment samples. We used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for all the collected samples. We found high concentrations of As and Fe in water in the S2 reservoir, above the maximum limits allowed by the sanitary criteria in Spain; however, the analysis of sediments indicated low ecological risk in S1 and moderate ecological risk for As in S2. The concentration of PTEs in common carp was higher in the S2 reservoir, exceeding the permissible limits in the case of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn. As and Cd showed higher concentrations in the kidney; Cu, Fe, and Zn showed higher concentrations in the liver; and Pb and Mn presented higher concentrations in the gill and gill bone. There was a good correlation between the concentrations found in water/sediment samples and those in common carp, corroborating its usefulness as a good ecological indicator, allowing the detection of environmental pollution and inferring previous or current anthropogenic activities such as mining.