Assesment of heavy metal accumulation in economically important fish species from Middle and Western Black Sea waters

This study examined the heavy metal levels (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ni and Zn) in liver and muscle tissues of Mullus barbatus, Pomatomus saltatrix, Engraulis encrasicolus, Trachurus trachurus, Merlangius merlangus, Sarda sarda, Belone belone ve Alosa alosa from Middle and Western Black Sea. The heavy metal levels in tissue of the examined fish were determined as ppm; Cd: 0.05-0.4, Co: 0.007-0.06, Cr: 0.02-0.43, Cu: 0.92-4.13, Fe: 2.0-54.1, Mn: 0.006-1.26, Ni: 0.13-3.74, Pb: 0.25-4.61, Zn: 3.47-32.1 for muscles, Cd: 0.06-0.65, Co: 0.03-0.35, Cr: 0.04-0.45, Cu: 2.10-9.13, Fe: 17.4-186, Mn: 0.44-2.51, Ni: 0.43-6.19, Pb: 0.41-5.21, Zn: 10.2-37.9 for livers. The levels of examined heavy metals were higher in the liver than the muscle tissues. Heavy metal accumulations in the edible muscle tissue of fish were compared with Provisional Tolerable Daily Intakes (PTDI) and Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intakes (PTDWI) values for human consumption, and these values were found to be well below. Consequently, fish samples were evaluated in terms of the time of the study and the region, levels of metal accumulation in edible muscle tissue may not negative influence for human health.