Determination of Mercury, Lead, Cadmium and Arsenic in Muscle and Liver of Liza klunzingeri from Hendijan Seaport

This study determined the concentrations of mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic in the muscle and liver of Liza klunzingeri from Khuzestan province. In this study, 18 samples of L. klunzingeri were collected from Hendijan seaport in winter. The concentrations of heavy metals were obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry (Perkin Elmer 4100). The average length and weight of L. klunzingeri were 18.77±0.95 cm and 78.27±3.68 g, respectively. Concentration of Hg, Cd, Pb and As in muscle of L. klunzingeri were 0.033±0.009, 0.171±0.017, 0.265±0.009, 0.092±0.008 mg kg-1 dry weight. Also, the amounts of these toxic metals in L. klunzingeri were 0.052±0.009, 0.224±0.011, 0.323±0.017, 0.160±0.008 mg kg-1 dry weight, respectively. The mercury, cadmium, lead and arsenic concentrations in liver of L. klunzingeri were higher than their levels in muscle. In this study, there was no significant positive correlationbetweenconcentration of Hg, Cd, Pb and As with length and weight in muscle of Liza klunzingeri (P<0.05).Accumulation ofHg, Pb and As in muscle of Liza klunzingeri was lower than the WHO, FDA and NHMRC standards, but concentration of Cd was higher than the NHMRC standards.