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Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2017, Vol 17, Num, 6     (Pages: 1135-1143)

Assessment of Potential Health Risks of Heavy Metals to the General Public in Turkey via Consumption of Red Mullet, Whiting, Turbot from the Southwest Black Sea

Suhendan Mol 1 ,Firdevs Saadet Karakulak 2 ,Safak Ulusoy 1

1 Istanbul University, Department of Seafood Processing and Quality Control, Faculty of Fisheries, Ordu st. No: 8, 34134 Laleli-Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey
2 Istanbul University, Department of Fisheries Technology, Faculty of Fisheries, Ordu st. No: 8, 34134 Laleli-Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey
DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v17_6_07 Viewed : 3621 - Downloaded : 4916 Trace metals in red mullet (Mullus barbatus), whiting (Merlangius merlangus) and turbot (Psetta maxima), from the Southwest Black Sea were determined and compared with the permitted limits. The maximum and minimum concentrations (mg.kg-1) in red mullet, whiting and turbot samples were found as 1.36-11.85, 1.57-3.35 and 0.39-26.36 for Cu; 20.80-34.94, 13.70-36.49 and 4.89-72.13 for Zn; 3.37-5.87, 1.98-7.53 and 0.70-2.90 for As; 0.02-0.05, 0.01-0.04 and 0.00-0.05 for Cd; 0.01-0.03, 0.01-0.02 and 0.00-0.02 for Hg; 0.03-1.70, 0.05-1.22 and 0.00-1.44 for Pb, respectively. The 2% of turbots exceeded the permitted limit for Cu, while 4% of them contained Zn above the limit. Lead concentration exceeded the permitted limit in the 25% of red mullets, 33% of whitings and 15% of turbots. The estimated weekly intakes (EWI) of metals were lower than established provisional tolerable weekly intakes (PTWI).
Target hazard quotients (THQs) due to metal uptake from consuming each of these fish species were below 1, indicating no health risks. Besides, consumption of these demersal species together would not cause potential health risks since hazard index (HI) was lower than 1.
Keywords : Heavy metals, fish, target hazard quotients (THQs), Hazard Index (HI), PTWI