Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

The Korean Society of Fisheries and Aquatic Science (한국수산과학회)
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Determination of arsenic and mercury in longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) collected from Terengganu waters: risk assessment of dietary exposure

  • Aziz, Norhazirah Abd (Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu) ;
  • Ghazali, Adiana (Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu) ;
  • Ahmad, Nurul Izzah (Environmental Health Research Centre (EHRC), Institute for Medical Research) ;
  • Ahmad, Ahmad Shamsudin (Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu) ;
  • Ong, Meng Chuan (Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu)
  • Received : 2021.10.15
  • Accepted : 2022.02.06
  • Published : 2022.03.31
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Abstract

Despite the beneficial aspect of fish consumption, bioaccumulation of toxic metals such as arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) can enhance the health risk for the consumers. Arsenic and Hg concentrations were measured in edible tissue and two targeted organs, namely gill and liver of longtail tuna species (Thunnus tonggol) from Terengganu waters, including Kuala Besut, Kuala Terengganu, Dungun and Kemaman. The concentration of As and Hg were analysed by using inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry. The mean concentrations of both elements were significantly different (p < 0.05) among the locations and targeted organs. The hierarchy of As and Hg mean concentrations in muscle samples were Dungun > Kuala Besut > Kemaman > Kuala Terengganu. The mean concentration of As in all samples, including muscle, exceeded the permitted level set by Malaysia Food Act. Estimate Weekly Intake (EWI) was conducted to assess the health risk effect, and 63 kg was used as the average body weight of Malaysian adults. However, the EWI values show that the weekly intake of As and Hg does not exceed the provisional tolerable weekly intake limit suggested by Food and Agricultural Organization for the United Nations and is considered safe to be consumed.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was conducted with funding from the Ministry of Higher Education under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) FRGS/1/2020/WAB05/UMT/02/5. First of all, the authors wish to acknowledge their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers who gave freely time and effort, constructive recommendations that enhanced the value of this manuscript. The authors also wish to express their gratitude to Oceanography Laboratory, Faculty of Science and Marine Environment staff for their invaluable assistance and the facilities to carry out the research. The authors also would like to thank Mr. Joseph bidai from Institute of Oceanography and Environment for the sample detection using ICP-MS.

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