SHORT COMMUNICATION HEAVY METALS BURDEN IN KIDNEY AND HEART TISSUES OF SCARUS

ABSTRACT. Levels of selected heavy metals (Pb, Co, Cu, Ni, Zn, Mn and Cd) in the heart and kidney tissues of parrot fish, collected from the Arabian Gulf, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, were determined by wet-digestion based atomic absorption method. The results showed that accumulation pattern of analyzed metals in the kidney tissues followed the order; Zn> Cu> Co> Pb> Ni> Mn> Cd. In the heart tissue the analyzed metals followed similar pattern of metal accumulation. The average Pb (0.85 ± 0.50 ppm), Cd (0.12 ± 0.07 ppm), Ni (0.92 ± 0.35 ppm) and Mn (0.86 ± 0.43 ppm) were significantly lower in the heart tissue whereas Zn (26.4 ± 12.9 ppm) and Cu (3.29 ± 2.18 ppm) were higher in the kidney tissues. In general, the data indicated that marine fish from the sampling site of the Arabian Gulf contain relatively less burden of heavy metals in their tissues