Determination of Heavy Metal Content in the Tiger-Toothed Croaker (Otolithes ruber): A Case Study in Bandar-e Mahshahr

Heavy metal (HMs) pollution of aquatic environment has become a great concern in recent years. Because of their toxicity and accumulative behavior of HMs، they can make different changes in aquatic environment. HMs can enter from contaminated water into fish body by different routes and accumulate in organisms. Since، commercial aquatic animals، such as fish، are highly consumed by human being and may accumulate large amounts of some metals from the water. It is important to determine the concentration of HMs in them in order to evaluate the possible risk of their consumption for human health. This study was conducted to determine the distribution of several types of heavy metals (Cd، Cr، Cu، Fe، Mn، Ni، Pb and Zn) in the muscle of Tiger-toothed croaker (Otolithes ruber) caught in Bandar-e Mahshahr which is located in the north western Persian Gulf Coast of Iran (N 33º 33´. 32 «، E 49º 11´ 53»). Heavy metal concentrations were analyzed by using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and results showed that with the exceptional Ni and Cd، the concentrations of other HMs analyzed in fish sampled are lower than the threshold values described in literature (i. e.، WHO).