Comparison of Heavy Metal Levels in Muscle and Gills of Four Benthic Fish Species from the Northeastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Heavy metals are of particular concern due to their toxicity and bioaccumulation ability in aquatic ecosystems and aquatic organisms. In general, they are not biodegradable and have long biological halflives. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), heavy metals must be controlled in food sources in order to assure public safety [1]. Heavy metals are taken up and accumulated by aquatic organisms both from the surrounding medium and via food sources (deep-sea carnivorous fish in particular accumulate metals in their muscles via the food chain). The extent of heavy metal accumulation is affected by external (dissolved metals, physicochemistry, dissolved oxygen, interactions between metals, sediment, food, seasonal effects, geographical differences) and internal (individual variability, body size and development stage, sex, breeding condition, brooding, moulting and growth, behaviour) factors [2,3].Many species of marine benthic fish are largely being used to assess the quality of aquatic environments because they could concentrate large amounts of some metals in different tissues such as muscle and gills [4,5]. The gills are considered the main site of entry for the dissolved metals. They are sensitive to any change of water components and serve as a good indicator of water quality since gill filaments and lamellae provide a very large surface area for direct and continuous contact with contaminants Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 24, No. 4 (2015), 1743-1748 AbstractIn the present study, the concentration of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe) in the gill and muscle tissues of four benthic fish species (Merluccius merluccius, Lophius budegassa, Helicolenus dactylopterus, and Chlorophthalmus agassizi) from the northeastern Mediterranean Sea in Turkey were investigated. From the obtained results, the heavy metal concentrations in muscle were lowest and highest in the gills for each species. Cd was not detected in any tissues of the species. The order of heavy metal concentrations were found as Zn>Fe>Cu>Pb=Cd in muscle tissue samples for four selected fish species (p<0.05). In the muscle tissue, the highest concentration of Zn (5.875 μg/g) was found in Lophius budegassa. The concentrations of heavy metals in gills of four selected fish species were Fe>Zn>Cu>Pb>Cd (p<0.05). In the gills, the highest concentration of Fe (73.730 μg/g) was also found in Lophius budegassa. The comparison of our results with previous studies showed that the metal levels of tissues are variable in organisms caught from the same area. In our study, the concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Fe in the muscle tissue are less than the permissible limits set for heavy metals by food regulations.

Metals in Fishes from Yongshu Island, Southern South China Sea: Human Health Risk Assessment

“…The concentrations of Cd and Cr in fish were lower than in sediments [ 44 ]. These results from other studies indicated that different environments, fish species, and water quality can influence the concentration of metals in fish [ 54 ].…”

Comparison of Fatty Acid Profile of Edible Tissues of Wild Terrestrial Snail (Helix lucorum L. 1758) Collected in Two Province (Adana and Sinop)

“…According to some nutritional recommendations the PUFA/SFA ratio in human diets should be above 0.45 (Alfaia et al, 2010). A high ratio of n-3/n-6 is beneficial for reducing the risk of coronary heart diseases, and the ratio has been suggested to be a useful indicator for comparing relative nutritional values of oils (Özparlak, 2013;Olgunoglu and Artar 2016). In the present study the PUFA/SFA ratio was found to be 0.30 and 0.26 for snail meats from Adana and Sinop respectively.…”

Análisis de metales pesados en el embalse Cerrillos de Ponce, Puerto Rico

“…In a study conducted by Olgunoğlu et al (2015) northeast of the Mediterranean Sea, the levels of heavy metals in muscle and gills of 4 different species of fish were studied, to then compare both quantities found. To carry out this study, samples of Merluccius merluccius, Lophius budegassa, Helicolenus dactylopterus and Chlorophtalnus agassizi, were collected at a depth between 459 and 582 m. After collecting the samples, they were rinsed with clean sea water, separated by species, stored in containers, preserved in ice and transferred to the laboratory, where both weight and size were measured.…”

“…The quantities varied between species due to their different eating and living habits, although they were in the same area. Olgunoğlu, et al (2015) concluded that the levels of heavy metals found in the fish, despite being high, were within the limits allowed by food regulations by determining that the consumption of the analyzed fish are not a risk to humans.…”