Cephalopods and cetaceans as indicators of offshore bioavailability of cadmium off Central South Brazil Bight Paulo Renato Dorneles a,b, * , Jose ´ Lailson-Brito a,b , Roberta Aguiar dos Santos c , Paulo Alberto Silva da Costa d , Olaf Malm a , Alexandre Freitas Azevedo b , Jo~ ao Paulo Machado Torres a a Laborato ´rio de Radioiso ´topos Eduardo Penna Franca, Instituto de Biofı ´sica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), 21941-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil b Laborato ´rio de Mamı ´feros Aqua ´ticos, Dept. Oceanografia, UERJ, 20550-013 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil c Centro de Pesquisa e Gest~ ao de Recursos Pesqueiros do Litoral Sudeste e Sul, IBAMA, 88301-700 Itajaı ´, SC, Brazil d Laborato ´rio de Dina ˆmica de Populac ¸ ~ oes Marinhas, UNIRIO, 22290-240 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Received 5 April 2006; received in revised form 5 September 2006; accepted 15 September 2006 Cd levels in ommastrephid squids from Brazil are the highest ever reported for cephalopods. Abstract Regarding Brazilian coast, industrial and urban developments are concentrated along Central South Brazil Bight. Samples from inshore and offshore species from the concerned area were analyzed, comprising 24 cetaceans (9 species) and 32 squids (2 species). Cadmium was deter- mined by GFAAS and our results were in agreement with certified values (DOLT-2, NRCC). Mean cadmium concentration (in mg/g, wet weight) observed in the digestive gland of sexually mature Argentine short-finned squids (Illex argentinus) was 1002.9. To our knowledge this is the highest cadmium level ever reported for a cephalopod. Concerning cetaceans, our results include one of the highest renal cadmium concentra- tions described for striped dolphins (71.29 mg/g, wet weight). Anthropogenic action, upwelling and cannibalism of Argentine short-finned squid on the studied area are possible reasons for such remarkable cadmium concentrations. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Cadmium; Southwest Atlantic Ocean; Brazil; Cephalopod; Cetacean 1. Introduction Industrial and urban developments, at present, spread along the entire Brazilian coast; however, they are particularly con- centrated along the region known as the Central South Brazil Bight (Fig. 1), which extends from Cabo Frio (23  S) to Cabo de Santa Marta (28  S), comprising the states of Rio de Janeiro, S~ ao Paulo, Parana ´ and Santa Catarina. This coast presents var- ious protected estuaries and bays that have been receiving dis- charges of chemical contaminants from domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewaters. Among these estuaries, Guanabara Bay (Fig. 1) may be men- tioned as the most dramatic example of man-made degradation, since it is surrounded by four cities (including Rio de Janeiro met- ropolitan area) with a total population of about 11 million people, and is bordered by 6000 industries, with more than 6000 addi- tional industries in its drainage basin (Kjerfve et al., 1997). Studies on heavy metal contamination of Brazilian marine environment have been produced (for reviewing, see Pfeiffer * Corresponding author. Laborato ´rio de Radioiso ´topos Eduardo Penna Franca, Instituto de Biofı ´sica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), 21941-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Tel.: þ55 21 2561 5339; fax þ55 21 2280 8193. E-mail addresses: dorneles@biof.ufrj.br, dornelespr@gmail.com (P.R. Dorneles), lailson@uerj.br (J. Lailson-Brito), gibteuthis@yahoo.com.br (R.A. dos Santos), pauloascosta@uol.com.br (P.A. Silva da Costa), olaf@ biof.ufrj.br (O. Malm), azevedo.alex@uol.com.br (A.F. Azevedo), jptorres@ biof.ufrj.br (J.P. Machado Torres). 0269-7491/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2006.09.022 Environmental Pollution 148 (2007) 352e359 www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol