Heavy Metals (Lead, Cadmium and Nickel) Concentration in Different Organs of Three Commonly Consumed Fishes in Bangladesh

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Pollution and food safety are concerning issues in recent years. For that, the present investigation was aimed to determine the levels of heavy metals (Lead, Cadmium and Nickel) in different organs of three fish (Labeo rohita, Gibelion catla and Pangasius hypophthalmus) and to compare the present value with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Oraganization (WHO) acceptable limit. These commonly consumed fish were collected from Kawran Bazar fish market, Bangladesh and the concentrations of heavy metals were carried out using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The highest (48.33 ± 2.52 ppm) concentration of Lead (Pb) was found in the gill of Pangus fish and the lowest (23.33 ± 2.52 ppm) was found in the gonad of Rui fish. In case of Cadmium (Cd), the highest (0.96 ± 0.08 ppm) concentration was found in the gill of Rui fish whereas the lowest (0.02 ± 0.01 ppm) was found in the kidney of Pangus fish. The highest (6.63 ± 1.00 ppm) concentration of Nickel (Ni) was found in the gill of Katla fish and the lowest (0.10 ± 0.10 ppm) was found in the liver of the same species. The metal concentrations in the muscle of Rui, Katla and Pangus fish were in the decreasing order of Pb>Ni>Cd, Pb>Cd>Ni and Pb>Ni>Cd respectively. In the study, it was found that Pb has exceeded the limits in every case whereas Cd was within the limits except for a few and Ni was completely within the maximum allowable limits provided by FAO/ WHO. However, all these concentrated metals in different parts of fish body could be concentrated into human body, if they are consumed and if so happen; there will be a massive health risk for us.