ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Comparison of Heavy Metal Levels in Muscle
and Gills of Four Benthic Fish Species
from the Northeastern Mediterranean Sea
Mine Perçin Olgunoğlu, Engin Artar, İlkan Ali Olgunoğlu
More details
Hide details
Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries Program, Kahta Vocational Training School,
Adıyaman University, Turkey
Submission date: 2015-01-07
Final revision date: 2015-02-20
Acceptance date: 2015-03-05
Publication date: 2015-07-27
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2015;24(4):1743-1748
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
In the present study, the concentration of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe)
in the gill and muscle tissues of four benthic fish species (Merluccius merluccius, Lophius budegassa,
Helicolenus dactylopterus, and Chlorophthalmus agassizi) from the northeastern Mediterranean Sea in Turkey
were investigated. From the obtained results, the heavy metal concentrations in muscle were lowest and highest
in the gills for each species. Cd was not detected in any tissues of the species. The order of heavy metal
concentrations were found as Zn>Fe>Cu>Pb=Cd in muscle tissue samples for four selected fish species
(p<0.05). In the muscle tissue, the highest concentration of Zn (5.875 μg/g) was found in Lophius budegassa.
The concentrations of heavy metals in gills of four selected fish species were Fe>Zn>Cu>Pb>Cd (p<0.05). In
the gills, the highest concentration of Fe (73.730 μg/g) was also found in Lophius budegassa. The comparison
of our results with previous studies showed that the metal levels of tissues are variable in organisms caught
from the same area. In our study, the concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Fe in the muscle tissue are less
than the permissible limits set for heavy metals by food regulations.