Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals and Lipid Quality Indexes in Freshwater Fish from Lakes of Warmia and Mazury Region, Poland.

Łuczyńska Łuczyńska,Paszczyk Paszczyk

doi:10.3390/ijerph16193780

Abstract

The objectives of study were to determine heavy metals content (Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe and Hg) and fatty acids in selected organs of roach, Rutilus rutilus (L.); bream, Abramis brama (L.); pike, Esox lucius (L.); Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis (L.) collected from reservoirs of Warmia and Mazury region (northeastern Poland). Heavy metals were determined with atomic absorption spectrometry AAS. The fatty acids were analyzed using gas chromatography. In a few cases, differences in the content of heavy metals and fatty acids were not significant between species. The muscles of fish characterized significantly higher values of mercury than other organs (p ≤ 0.05), except for bream. The reverse regularity was observed in the case of content of Cu, Zn, Mn and Fe. Fatty acids having a desirable dietary effect in humans (DFA-Hypocholesterolaemic fatty acids) (74.00–74.84) were more than OFA (hypercholesterolaemic fatty acids), i.e., those undesirable (24.03–24.79). The lipid quality indexes AI (index of atherogenicity) (0.40–0.44) and TI (index of thrombogenicity) (0.18–0.24) in muscles of fish were low, which means that the meat of the fish may be recommended for human health. THQ (target hazard quotient) and HI (hazard index) as individual foodstuff were below 1, whereas HI for a specific receptor/pathway combination exceeded 1. This may suggest that eating meat from a given species is safe from a health point of view.

Highlights

A properly balanced diet, including the amount of fish consumed, is a way to maintain the health and balance of the human body, as well as physiological functions [1]
Based on the hazard factor for individual metals Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) < 1, it was found that the consumption of the studied fish does not constitute a carcinogenic health risk
When the mathematical sum of each THQ value for a given species of fish is considered, their consumption does not raise concerns related to adverse health risks

Summary

Introduction

A properly balanced diet, including the amount of fish consumed, is a way to maintain the health and balance of the human body, as well as physiological functions [1]. It is known that fish and fish oils (along with some vegetable oils) are a good source for essential polyunsaturated fatty acids in human nutrition [3,5]. Many clinical trials have shown the relationship between the intake of n-3 PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and beneficial effects in different diseases (optimal cardiovascular system, brain and vision functioning, cancer prevention, arthritis, hypertension and diabetes mellitus) [2,5,6,7,8].

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