Concentrations of Zinc, Copper, Lead And Cadmium In Edible Fin Fishes Of Coastal West Bengal, India

Abstract

The present paper aims to assess the concentrations of Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd in the muscle of commercially important fin fishes namely Tenualosa ilisha, Liza parsia, Liza tade and Pampus argenteus. The fin fish species accumulated metals as per the order Liza tade > Liza parsia > Tenualosa ilisha > Pampus argenteus. The metals accumulated as per the order Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd irrespective of the species and sampling stations. The spatial variation of bioaccumulation followed the order station 1 > station 2 > station 3 > station 4, which may be related to different degree of contamination in different locations. The accumulated heavy metals in the selected fishes collected from stations 1, 2 and 3 were found to be higher than the recommended maximum level (allowed in food) as prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO, 1989) and FAO (1992) for fishes. However, in fishes sampled from station 4, the levels of heavy metals were lower than the recommended maximum values of FAO (1992).