Abstract

Concentrations of heavy metals Cd, Fe, Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, Cr and Mn in muscles, liver, kidney and gills of marine and native commercial fish of Chacunda gizzard shad Anodontostoma chacunda collected from Karachi fish harbour were determined to conduct a health risk assessment for people by the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The obtained results were expressed mg/kg dry weight. Results showed that Fe and Zn concentrations were the most abundant among all tissues whereas Cd and Pb levels were the lowest. The data obtained in this study were compared with the international maximum permissible values. The estimated values of all metals in muscles of fish in this study were below the permissible limits. Generally, risk values for the measured metals do not pose unacceptable risks at mean ingestion rate for edible tissues. It can be concluded that the heavy metal levels in edible parts of A. chacunda have no hazards for consumers.