Impact of some heavy metal's accumulation in different organs on Fish quality from Bardawil Lake and human health risk assessment

Abstract

Bardawil Lake is a unique aquatic ecosystem that provides a habitat for various fish and other aquatic organisms. This study aimed to analyze the quality of fish species to make sure this lake, like the rest of the other Egyptian lakes, suffers from the deterioration of fish product quality due to the accumulation of some heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn) in various tissues from fish species that were caught from this lake. 35 fish samples were caught during spring, 2018; from seven different species: Mugil cephalus, Liza auratus, Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax, Siganus rivulatus, Anguilla angilla, and Solae Solea. The Association of Official Analytical Chemists methods using a spectrophotometer determined the biochemical composition. In contrast, atomic absorption spectrometry was employed to determine the heavy metals expressed by µg/g wet weight. Results exposed that the accumulation of essential micronutrient (Cu, Zn) content was higher than toxic elements (Cd & Pb) in muscles to Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd. Muscles < gills < liver in all metals except Pb muscles < liver < gills. The metals studied in the muscles were lower than those set by the WHO, and the EU standard. The carcinogenic risk with lower allowable limits of 1x10-6 to 1x10-4 in both normal and high consumption groups; target and total target hazard quotients (THQ & HI) in muscles were <1. The biochemical composition level was highest in the liver, except for protein, which was highest in muscle for all fish species. There is no evidence of harmful contaminants in the muscular tissue of the fish sampled from Bardawil Lake. However, customers should be aware that health concerns may be associated with eating too much fish