Nature Environment and Pollution Technology

Ali H. Bahhari ¹, Ibrahim N. Al-Switi ¹, Al-Rajab Abdul Jabbar ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Zoology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, SA
2 Center for Environmental Research and Studies, Jazan University, Jazan, SA

Abstract

Presence of heavy metals at high concentrations in edible fish might lead to some health issues for consumers. The current work determined the concentrations of four heavy metals Cd, Pb, Zn and Cu in seawater, gills and muscles of two common fishes, Mugil cephalus and Lethrinus miniatus, collected in summer 2014 from two different areas of Red Sea, Jazan, Saudi Arabia, using ICP-AES after microwave digestion procedure. The concentrations of investigated metals were higher in the gills than in muscles for the two fish species. However, the concentration of zinc was higher than other metals in all samples, in the following order Zn>Cu>Pb>Cd. The average of maximum metal concentration was measured for Zn (11.087 ± 1.672 mg kg-1w.w) in the gills of Lethrinus miniatus, Cu (0.548 ± 0.249 mg kg-1w.w) in the gills of Mugilcephalu, Pb (0.131 ± 0.092 mg kg-1w.w) in the gills of Mugilcephalu, and Cd (0.064 ± 0.017 mg kg-1w.w) in the gills of Lethrinus miniatus. Concentration of investigated metals in water was following the same order in the fish tissues Zn>Cu>Pb>Cd, with a maximum detected concentrations of 0.0233, 0.0085, 0.0059, and 0.0023 mg L^-1, respectively. Despite the detection of heavy metals in the edible tissues of investigated fish, the concentrations were within the recommended maximum residual level of FAO/WHO and EU. Therefore, the investigated fish might be considered safe for human consumption. More extended investigations are highly recommended.

Keywords

Heavy Metal, Seawater Concentration, Mugil cephalus, Lethrinus miniatus, Red Sea.

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