Heavy metal levels in sea and fresh fish fished in Düzce and in tap waters

Objective: This study which was carried out between September 2014-August 2015 aimed to determine the heavy metal levels in fish and tap waters. Materials and methods: Thelevels of bor (B), aluminium (Al), scandium (Sc), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), molybdenum (Mo), silver (Ag), cadmium (Cd), tin (Sn), antimony (Sb), barium (Ba), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb) and bismut (Bi) in sea fish from the traditional open fishmarkets, in salmon samples collected from 5 different fish farms and in tap water samples from 14 locations were investigated. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) was used to determine the metal concentrations. Results: In this study the lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and zinc levels in some sea fish and salmon samples were found to be higher than legal limits proposed by Turkish Food Codex. Some of the tap water samples contain aluminium and iron above the limits set by World Health Organisation. Conclusion and Recommendations: It is considered that the consumption of the fish from this location may be cause adverse health effects due to the heavy metal pollution. The analyse can be repeated on high measured months and needed precautions must be taken to protect the fish which are important source for protein in order not to get affected from heavy metal pollution.