Heavy metals content of canned tuna fish: estimated weekly intake

Abstract

Present study was aimed at investigating the tree heavy metals namely Cadmium, lead and mercury measured in canned tuna fish which was collected from large Moroccan supermarkets and grocery stores. Heavy metals amounts were determined in samples using graphite furnace and cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry. The levels of Hg samples were generally higher than those of Pb and Cd. This study has revealed that the concentrations of trace elements in canned tuna fish were below the maximum acceptable concentrations for human consumption. Metal concentrations in the Moroccan canned tuna fish were assessed for human uses according to provisional tolerable weekly and daily intake. The estimated values of all metals in samples in this study were below the established values. Therefore, it can be concluded that those metals in tuna, posed no health problems for consumers.