Risk assessment of heavy metals (Lead, Copper, Cadmium) in muscle and skin of Upeneus sulphureus in Mahshahr port

The high toxicity of heavy metals in the environment, the accumulation in aquatic tissues and the transmission to other consumers necessitates their local and temporal monitoring. The aim of this study in winter of 2017 was to risk assessment of heavy metals (Lead, Copper and Cadmium) in muscle tissue and skin of Upeneus sulphureus in Mahshahr port. This study was conducted on 30 samples of upeneus sulphureus from the Mahshahr port in winter (March). These samples after the preparation were determined by atomic absorption Spectra varian 220. The data were analyzed by SPSS22, Excel 2013, Tukey and Kolmogrov-Smirnov tests. The mean concentration of Lead, Copper and Cadmium in skin was 0.017± 0.015, 0.510±0.042 and 0.045±0.037 and in muscle 0.008±0.004, 0.281± 0.025 and 0.016±0.014 (mg/kg). In both studied tissue, the concentration of all metals in muscle tissue and skin of Upeneus sulphureus was lower than the standards. Since the HQ risk index was lower than 1 for all three metals, therefore this fish is not to be risky.but due to the presence of certain amounts of heavy metals, there must be some consideration.