Abstract
Fish is a vital food for humans and many animals. We report an environmental monitoring study to assess the trace metals in fish species caught from Arabian Sea and commercially available in the coastal city Karachi, Pakistan. Heavy metals such as copper, iron, lead and cadmium were determined in the skin, fillet and heart of the fish species Pampus argenteus, Epinephelus chlorostigma, Rachycentron canadum, Scomberomorus commerson, Johnius belangerii, Labeo rohita, Lutjanus argentimaculatus, Trachinotus blochii, Pomadsys olivaceum and Acanthopagrus berda by the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentration (mg kg−1, dry weight) range was: Cd (0.00–0.041), Cu (0.006–0.189), Fe (0.413–4.952) and Pb (0.00–0.569). Cadmium, copper and iron levels were below the tolerable limits whereas concentration of lead in the skins of S. commerson, E. chlorostigma, J. belangerii, A. berda; L. argentimaculatus, fillets of J. belangerii, E. chlorostigma and in the heart of J. belangerii exceeded the recommended limits. Therefore fish skin should be discouraged as food for humans or animals. The results indicate that a number of fish species have higher concentration of heavy metals dangerous for human health. Since the fish P. olivaceum (Dhotar) has the lowest level of trace metals therefore we recommend it for breeding and human consumption.
Highlights
Oceans are a great source of foodstuff for humans and cover 70 % of the earth’s surface
We present a study of heavy metals concentration like iron, copper, cadmium and lead in the edible and commercially important fish species commonly used by the people in Karachi, Yasmeen et al SpringerPlus (2016) 5:859
The results of study showed that the concentration of Cd in all fish species were in range of 0.00– 0.041 mg kg−1, 0.00–0.037 mg kg−1 and 0.00–0.020 mg kg−1
Summary
Oceans are a great source of foodstuff for humans and cover 70 % of the earth’s surface. Fish is a recommended food for the adequate human health. Seafood or fish is rich with minerals and vitamins which are considered to be important for maintaining human health. This natural food is being poisoned due to the increment of heavy metals. The concentration of heavy metal contamination is an important factor because of its toxic effects on human health (Shahid-ul-Islam and Tanaka 2004; Zehra et al 2003). These trace metals are tolerable at extremely low concentration and above certain concentration they become toxic for humans. The heavy metals gather in the tissues of aquatic life forms and transferred to humans through consumption of contaminated food (Ahmed 1977; Olowu et al 2010; Qadir et al 2011; Tuzen 2002)
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