Baseline concentration of 210Po in Kuwait’s commercial fish species

This baseline study highlights the 210Po variation in whole fishes with different feeding habits. Whole-body 210Po concentrations were determined in ten important commercial fish species found in the northern Arabian Gulf to serve as baseline data. Primarily, 210Po is absorbed from water, concentrated by phytoplankton and microzooplankton, and then transferred to the next trophic level along the marine food chain. The lowest concentration of 210Po was measured in larger carnivorous fishes like hamoor (0.089 Bq kg−1), while the highest was found in the fishes that feed on algae, zooplanktons and detritus, like battan (3.30 Bq kg−1). The baseline data can be used to understand both the trophic transfer of 210Po in the marine food chain and the 210Po concentration factors in fish from the Arabian Gulf.