Evaluation of heavy metal concentrations in seven commercial marine fishes caught in the Mediterranean coast of Morocco and their associated health risks to consumers

To evaluate the health risk of some heavy metals attributed to the consumption of common edible fish species which were available for consumers. The concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu, Fe, Zn, Ni and Cr were determined in muscles, gills and livers, of seven common edible fish species, namely (Octopus vulgaris cuvier (1797), Sardina pilchardus, Trachurus trachurus, Palaemon serratus, Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax and Solea vulgaris) gathered from the Mediterranean coast in the North East of Morocco, landed in the port of Nador during the autumn and spring of the year 2016. Concentrations of heavy metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma- atomic emission spectroscopy and expressed as mg/kg of dry matter. Results showed that iron and zinc were the most abundant among all fish tissues under investigation. The data obtained in the present work were compared with the counterpart data reported internationally. The estimated values of all metals in muscles of fish in this study were below the admissible values. It can be concluded that the investigated metals in edible parts of the examined species have no health problems for consumers