Heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb) content in two fish species of Persian Gulf in Bushehr Port, Iran

Abstract

Heavy metal (HMs) pollution of aquatic environment has become a great concern in recent years. In this study, cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) levels were determined in muscle and skin of two important consumed fishes (Indo-Pacific king mackerel and Tigertooth croaker) in Bushehr Province in the Southwestern of Iran. Heavy metal concentrations were analyzed by using inductively coupled plasma (ICP). The mean contents of metal, expressed in mg/kg wet weight, varied from 0.17 to 0.26 for Cd, 1.25 to 1.84 for Cu, 0.6 to 0.84 for Ni and 0.31 to 0.7 for Pb. Results showed that the highest and lowest contents of heavy metals in muscle and skin of both fish samples were related to Cu and Cd concentration, respectively, and heavy metal contents in both skin fish samples and muscle of Tigertooth croaker were found to decrease in sequence as Cu>Pb>Ni>Cd.

Key words: Heavy metal, fish, Bushehr, Iran.