Resumen en inglés

The Atrato-Colombia river basin is one of the areas of greatest gold production in the country; gold mining in the rivers and soils has caused contamination with toxic elements. The concentrations of the heavy metals mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) were evaluated in fish and vegetables most consumed by the riverside inhabitants of the middle basin of the Atrato river; these persistent contaminants represent a danger for various species of animals and plants, due to their bioaccumulative and biomagnifiable capacity, which becomes a risk for public health. A total of 154 samples of different vegetables and 440 fish samples were analyzed; the concentrations in fish were in the following order: Hg, As, Pb and Cd; in vegetables there were As, Hg, Cd and Pb. The results showed high concentrations of Hg in fish especially carnivorous fish (1008.0±552.7 µg kg-1 ), in vegetables higher concentrations of As were observed (60.84±107.8 mg kg). The risk assessment determined elevated concentrations of THg, MeHg and As. There is carcinogenic risk due to long As exposures from fish consumption in Ageniosus pardalis (Doncella), Rhamdia quelen (Barbudo), Leporinus muyscorum (Liseta), Hypostomus hondae (Guacuco), Prochilodus magdalenae (bocachico), Ctenolucius beani (Agujeta), Hoplias malabaricus (Quicharo), Trachelyopterus fisheri (Caga), Sternopygus aequilabiatus (Beringo), Caquetaia umbrifera (Mojarra negra), Astyanax fasciatus (Sardina), Caquetaia kraussii (Mojarra amarilla), Geophagus Pellegrini (Mojarra copetona); However, for As and Pb in vegetables this risk was absent. The average concentrations in fish and vegetables exceeded the maximum permissible limit of (Codex, 1995; E.U., 2016). The high concentrations of THg, MeHg and As in some food species of the middle basin of the Atrato river, allows the present study to make a call for the construction of possible consumption alternatives, due to possible risks to public health in the area.