Heavy metals analyses of green turtle 9chelonia mydas) eggs in Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract

Heavy metals have been reported in sea turtles at various stages of their life cycle including sea turtle eggs. This contaminant can disrupt embryonic development and growth of wildlife. Furthermore, in areas such as Terengganu where the human consumption of sea turtle eggs are still common and the egg contamination may have implications to the public health. In the present study, the purpose was to determine the concentration of heavy metals in green turtle eggs (Chelonia mydas) as well as to compared the concentration of heavy metals between green turtle eggs sold at Pasar Payang and freshly laid eggs from Chagar Hutang, Redang Island. Each egg was divided into three compartments (egg shell, albumen and egg yolk) and were analyzed for heavy metals of Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb