Abstract:
The pollution from Metallic Elements (MEs) becoming one of the major
concern in assessing potential human risk on food consumption. Wild commercial fish
exposed to the natural environment are the main source of exposure to human. Thus,
this study was conducted to determine the concentration of MEs in selected
commercial fish of Setiu coastal water and to study the correlation of the metals with
the fish sizes. Ten types of MEs including chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), copper
(Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and
mercury (Hg) were detected in both the liver and muscle of five commercial species
collected namely Auxis sp., Megalaspis cordyla, Rastrelliger sp, Selaroides sp. and
Nemipterus sp. Fishes were dissected for muscle and liver and digested using Teflon
Bomb digestion method. The concentration of MEs in the organ were detected using
the Inductive Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrophometer. The data obtained show
selected MEs were higher in the liver than the muscle except for Cr for all fish species
collected. Overall concentration of all fish species shows that the concentration of
Fe>Zn>As>Cu>Cd>Mn>Cr>Hg>Ni>Pb in the liver and the concentration of
Fe>As>Zn>Cr>Cu>Mn>Ni>Hg>Pb>Cd in the muscle. The size of fish and the
trophic level does not influence the MEs concentration in the fish. The concentration
of MEs in the liver can safely say that does not affect the concentration of MEs in the
muscle means that the fish diet is not the main source of metal content for muscle.
