Hg, Cd, and Pb in fish of the Moulouya River, Morocco, and human health risk

ABSTRACT

Concentrations of toxic metals (Hg, Pb, and Cd) were determined in the muscles of Lepomis macrochirus, Barbus callensis, and Barbus nasus caught from the Moulouya River of Morocco by graphite furnace (for Pb and Cd) and cold vapour (for Hg) atomic absorption spectrometry, after acid digestion. Although the concentration of metals in some species was relatively high, no health risk has been identified in comparison to the maximum limits as set by the European Commission. The order of increasing concentrations was Cd < Hg < Pb. Calculated Target Hazard Quotients and Hazard Indices were below 1, indicating that the intake of metals via consumption of the muscles of both fish species does not represent a hazard to human health.

KEYWORDS:

• Trace metal
• contamination
• Moulouya River
• fish
• risk assessment

Acknowledgments

The Regional Laboratory of Analysis and Research of National Office of Food Safety (RLAR, ONSSA) in Tangier is greatly acknowledged for sample analysis. Special thanks go to Professor Mohammed Ghziyel, Professor of English, for his English editing of the entire text.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

This article has no associated data, and all the data used in this study are present in the article.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.