Measurement and Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Canned Tuna Collected from Various Sources in 1390

Evaluation of food contaminants particularly heavy metals in tuna and its products، that might be considered as an indicator of water pollution is quite important. In this study the concentrations of mercury، cadmium and lead in canned tuna produced in four countries measured and evaluated. Samples of canned tuna from Oman Sea، coasts of India، Seychelles and Ghana were obtained from one of the distributing companies in Iran. The concentration of mercury was measured by cold vapor technique using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The concentration of cadmium and lead were determined by inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The results were compared with the national، european and international standards. Statistical analyses of the results were carried out using SPSS software and analyses of variance (ANOVA) were used to detect significant differences. The results indicated that the concentrations of mercury، for all the samples examined were within the standard limit while for cadmium and lead only 25% and 50% of the samples examined were within the defined standard limits respectively. it was conclude that Chabahar region of Oman Sea and Ghana coast had the highest and least concentrations of heavy metals as contaminants respectively.