Trace Metals Do Not Accumulate Over Time in The Edible Mediterranean Jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) from Urban Coastal Waters

Consorzio Interuniversitario di Ricerca in Chimica dei Metalli nei Sistemi Biologici (C.I.R.C.M.S.B), Villa La Rocca, via Celso Ulpiani, 70126 Bari, Italy

Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare (CONISMA), Local Research Unit Lecce, 00196 Roma, Italy

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Dipartimento di Ecologia Marina Integrata (EMI), Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

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These authors equally contributed.

Academic Editor: Epaminondas D. Christou

Water 2021, 13(10), 1410; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101410

Received: 7 April 2021 / Revised: 10 May 2021 / Accepted: 11 May 2021 / Published: 18 May 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Implementation of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Marine Ecosystem Management)

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Abstract

Jellyfish as food represent a millennial tradition in Asia. Recently, jellyfish have also been proposed as a valuable source of protein in Western countries. To identify health risks associated with the potential human consumption of jellyfish as food, trace element accumulation was assessed in the gonads and umbrella tissues of the Mediterranean Rhizostoma pulmo (Macri, 1778), sampled over a period of 16 months along the shallow coastal waters a short distance from the city of Taranto, an area affected by metallurgic and oil refinery sources of pollution. Higher tissue concentrations of trace elements were usually detected in gonads than in umbrella tissue. In particular, significant differences in the toxic metalloid As, and in the metals Mn, Mo, and Zn, were observed among different tissues. The concentrations of vanadium were slightly higher in umbrella tissues than in gonads. No positive correlation was observed between element concentration and jellyfish size, suggesting the lack of bioaccumulation processes. Moreover, toxic element concentrations in R. pulmo were found below the threshold levels for human consumption allowed by Australian, USA, and EU Food Regulations. These results corroborate the hypothesis that R. pulmo is a safe, potentially novel food source, even when jellyfish are harvested from coastal areas affected by anthropogenic impacts. View Full-Text

Keywords: edible jellyfish; novel food; heavy metals; ICP-AES elemental analysis; marine pollution; Gulf of Taranto; Ionian Sea

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MDPI and ACS Style

Basso, L.; Papadia, P.; Rizzo, L.; Migoni, D.; Fanizzi, F.P.; Piraino, S. Trace Metals Do Not Accumulate Over Time in The Edible Mediterranean Jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) from Urban Coastal Waters. Water 2021, 13, 1410. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101410

AMA Style

Basso L, Papadia P, Rizzo L, Migoni D, Fanizzi FP, Piraino S. Trace Metals Do Not Accumulate Over Time in The Edible Mediterranean Jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) from Urban Coastal Waters. Water. 2021; 13(10):1410. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101410

Chicago/Turabian Style

Basso, Lorena, Paride Papadia, Lucia Rizzo, Danilo Migoni, Francesco P. Fanizzi, and Stefano Piraino. 2021. "Trace Metals Do Not Accumulate Over Time in The Edible Mediterranean Jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) from Urban Coastal Waters" Water 13, no. 10: 1410. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101410

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Trace Metals Do Not Accumulate Over Time in The Edible Mediterranean Jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) from Urban Coastal Waters

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