Lead, Cadmium, and Mercury Concentration Levels in Some Commercial Fish From the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden During the Years 2020–2022

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine and evaluate the heavy metal concentrations levels: lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) in the meat of some commercial fish species: Grouper (Epinephelus areolatus), Emperor (Lethrinus nebulosus) and Cuttlefish (Sepia Pharaonis). A total of 84 fish samples were caught and collected from different sites in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea between January 2020 and December 2022. Some of them were sold in the cities markets of Hadhramout governorate- Yemen, and some of them were exported abroad. All samples were analyzed at the laboratories of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Marine Biology- Hadhramout University, where atomic absorption spectrometer was used in the process of analyzing elements, following the generally accepted scientific methods. The results of the study showed that the mean concentrations of lead, cadmium, and mercury in the Grouper samples were (0.1225, 0.0101, and 0.0098 ppm) respectively. In Emperor the mean concentrations of lead, cadmium, and mercury reached (0.1228, 0.0108, and 0.0084 ppm) respectively, while in Cuttlefish, lead, cadmium, and mercury reached (0.1220, 0.0143, and 0.0063 ppm) respectively. All these values remained even lower than the minimum permissible limits, whether according to Yemeni or European standards. The results of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show any significant difference in lead concentrations among study's fish (P>0.05), whereas, it indicated that there were significant differences between cadmium and mercury. Among years, (ANOVA) did not indicate any significantly different (P>0.05) in cadmium concentration, whereas, there were significantly different (P<0.05) in lead and mercury. This study concluded by providing some important recommendations to local authorities and competent scientific centers in this field.