Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Fish in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead constitute a serious threat to human health. Generally, regular consumption of fish is recommended because it is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been associated with health benefits. However, flesh of some fish species contains heavy metals in high concentration, which may pose health risk for individuals that consume them in significant quantities. Therefore, over the last few years, evaluation of heavy metals in fish has become a matter of great global concern and especially in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.The aim of the present work was toassess the concentration of the most toxic heavy metals present in fish caught along the eastern and western coasts of Saudi Arabia, which was achieved through several studies. Results yielded by analyzing 73 fish species and 1,027 edible fish part samples from 12 sampling sitesrevealed considerable variation in metal concentrations across the sampling locations and fish species. Amounts of some of heavy metals were below the maximum allowed limit. Moreover, high hazard index (HI > 10) was obtained for the consumption of some fish species caught at specific sites, which indicates a high probability of consuming populations experiencing adverse health effects.

Risk Assessment and Implication of Human Exposure to Road Dust Heavy Metals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

“…Moreover, exposure to heavy metals through dust is only one of the major human exposure pathways of the contaminants, other routes of exposure must be considered. In Saudi Arabia, drinking water, especially water wells [ 108 ], vegetables [ 109 ], fruits [ 110 ], cereals [ 111 ], spices and herbs [ 112 ], cow’s milk [ 113 ] and fishes [ 114 , 115 ] were reported to be contaminated with heavy metals in different levels. Therefore, human risk assessment studies based on all possible exposures are highly recommended in Saudi Arabia.…”

The Prevalence of Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies and High Levels of Non-Essential Heavy Metals in Saudi Arabian Adults

“…Fish consumption is a critical source of human exposure to mercury alongside dental amalgam use or occupational exposure [ 12 , 13 ]. A previous study reported that consuming fish from the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf potentially poses a health risk because of mercury bioaccumulation [ 14 ]…”

Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Water and Some Fish Samples from Onuimo River, Imo State, Nigeria

“…Mean values of chromium in Carp and Cat fishes (Table 2) were observed to be lower than permissible limit of FAO (1983), EU (2008) and some literature values [52][53]. Chromium levels in the remaining fish samples were higher than the permissible limits above and those reported in Balistoides Vridiscens [19]. Bioaccumulation of chromium in humans can lead to; pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer Moon fish = Carp fish (79.55).…”

“…Cadmium can remain in human system for decades and cannot be efficiently metabolized. It can cause kidney damage, lung cancer, testicular tissue destruction, high blood pressure, proteinuria, red blood destruction and non-descended testes in young males [19,[48][49]. Recent research show that exposure to cadmium at even low concentration can increase the risk of hormonal cancer [50].…”

“…Several adverse effects of heavy metals in fish samples have been extensively studied [18]. Some of the adverse effects are cardiovascular, renal and peripheral vascular diseases, neurologic and nonbehavioural disorders, cancer, proteinuria, liver and kidney failure, gastrointestinal toxicity, nephropathy, hematologic disorder, encephalo-pathy, pulmonary fibrosis, nasopharyngeal tumors, nephrotoxicity, tremor, nausea, and damage to fetus among others [19][20][21]. As a result of these effects, many l monitoring programs have been established in order to assess the quality of fish for human consumption and also to monitor the health of aquatic ecosystem [22][23][24][25].…”