Measurement of Heavy Elements Concentration in the Muscle Tissue of Caspian Roach (Rutilus rutilus caspicus Yakovlev, 1870) (Case Study: Siah Darvishan River, Guilan province, Iran)

Heavy elements, due to their indissoluble structure, pose a serious threat to the health of aquatic animals as well as humans at high level of concentrations in aquatic tissues. For this purpose, the present study aims to investigate concentration and order of elements accumulated in the muscle tissue of Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus caspicus) in Siah Darvishan River as one of the fish species with high economic value and also the determination of its health for human consumption.

In this study, concentration level of eleven heavy elements (Pb, Hg, Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, As, Fe, Mn, Ni and Se) in muscle tissue of 25 Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus caspicus) caught by cast net from Siah Darvishan River (Guilan province, Iran) in summer 2016 were digested with closed-vessel method in CEM microwave digestion system afterwards measured and evaluated using by Varian® atomic absorption spectroscopy.

The least and most accumulated elements have been observed, as follows: Zinc 30.58-33.53, Iron 18.63-20.89, Copper 3.54-4.24, Manganese 1.55-1.86, Lead 0.81-0.83, Arsenic 0.74-0.79, Nickel 0.56-0.61, Selenium 0.46-0.51, Cadmium 0.26-0.32, Chromium 0.13-0.16 and Mercury 0.079-0.095 microgram per gram dry weight, respectively.

The results show that, mean concentrations of all elements in muscle tissue of Caspian roach, except the five heavy elements; Nickel (0.584±0.026), Arsenic (0.764±0.027), Cadmium (0.296±0.024), Manganese (1.665±0.166) and Lead (0.817±0.011), were below than the standard approved by the international organization (FAO/WHO).