Determination of heavy metals in some tissues of four fish species from the Karasu River (Erzincan, Turkey) for public consumption

Fish	n	TL ranges	W ranges	^aEquation	R value
A.marmid	35	11–20.9	20.0–82.0	y = 0.0312 x^2.5535	0.9115
C. umbla	63	14.4–42.1	27.0–539.0	y = 0.0272 x^2.6627	0.9476
C. trutta	28	11–34.2	12.0–344.0	y = 0.0076 x^3.0490	0.9764
C. regium	49	11–24.2	10.0–99.0	y = 0.0439 x^2.4025	0.8893

a y is the total fish weight (g) and x is the total fish length (cm)

Comparison of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb concentrations in muscle of four freshwater fish species from the Karasu River, Erzincan

Comparison of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb concentrations in liver of four freshwater fish species from the Karasu River, Erzincan

Comparison of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb concentrations in gills of four freshwater fish species from the Karasu River, Erzincan

Table 2

Concentrations of heavy metals (mean, standart deviation, minimum and maximum values; mg kg⁻¹) in different tissues of four fish species from the Karasu River

Heavy Metals	Tissue	A. marmid	C. umbla	C. trutta	C. regium
Al	Muscle	129.99 ± 1.12 (52.65–487.52)	130.63 ± 1.35 (80.33–177.15)	108.58 ± 1.35 (44.05–227.77)	95.12 ± 1.34 (56.49–201.15)
	Liver	156.77 ±1.98 (132.26–218.16)	184.12 ± 1.52 (73.59–542.38)	285.92 ± 1.15 (45.34–881.38)	597.37 ± 1.17 (79.79–2051.97)
	Gill	447.52 ± 1.36 (143.50–1324.99)	284.98 ± 1.00 (102.14–834.00)	1809.94 ± 1.05 (117.61–4495.28)	1450.17 ± 1.06 (322.96–2601.41)
Cr	Muscle	3.08 ± 1.64 (1.43–8.47)	2.18 ± 1.22 (1.63–2.85)	2.15 ± 1.14 (1.36–2.79)	2.84 ± 1.01 (1.41–7.25)
	Liver	4.41 ± 1.19 (3.09–6.83)	3.47 ± 1.49 (2.17–5.24)	11.04 ± 0.79 (1.74–55.28)	18.13 ± 1.27 (2.04–67.34)
	Gill	7.49 ± 1.05 (2.80–20.44)	4.45 ± 0.99 (2.01–11.43)	15.49 ± 0.99 (2.27–44.86)	11.15 ± 0.73 (3.74–20.76)
Mn	Muscle	5.65 ± 1.30 (1.74–24.83)	6.13 ± 1.22 (2.88–12.58)	3.88 ± 0.71 (1.98–6.30)	6.98 ± 0.82 (3.43–11.18)
	Liver	10.65 ± 1.24 (8.68–13.01)	20.11 ± 1.02 (8.54–48.48)	32.21 ± 0.97 (4.49–70.01)	26.34 ± 1.01 (7.67–85.28)
	Gill	24.22 ± 0.94 (3.68–40.86)	53.64 ± 0.98 (25.63–74.13)	73.17 ± 1.41 (30.66–129.29)	85.21 ± 1.22 (29.13–142.59)
Fe	Muscle	150.92 ± 1.38 (21.12–800.40)	86.05 ± 0.93 (25.58–168.14)	55.96 ± 0.94 (16.88–117.90)	62.02 ± 0.84 (34.44–89.42)
	Liver	887.05 ± 1.12 (330.71–1890.51)	1395.39 ± 0.72 (364.09–4376.27)	2299.52 ± 0.85 (265.97–9314.15)	1445.84 ± 0.82 (235.29–3232.52)
	Gill	620.34 ± 089 (93.23–2413.61)	315.25 ± 1.11 (165.85–681.08)	1360.95 ± 0.83 (152.01–3872.51)	1045.53 ± 0.97 (315.18–1778.37)
Co	Muscle	0.74 ±1.07 (0.49–1.66)	0.54 ± 0.50 (0.41–0.81)	0.53 ± 0.85 (0.40–0.61)	0.51 ± 0.93 (0.37–0.67)
	Liver	1.52 ± 0.99 (0.86–2.02)	1.47 ± 0.85 (0.73–2.58)	2.34 ± 0.89 (0.84–4.74)	1.44 ± 0.85 (0.94–2.61)
	Gill	1.44 ± 0.77 (0.55–2.10)	1.30 ± 1.07 (0.71–1.99)	2.59 ± 0.95 (1.02–5.59)	2.17 ± 1.14 (0.92–3.19)
Ni	Muscle	3.89 ± 1.60 (1.93–12.09)	3.10 ± 1.49 (2.66–3.79)	3.06 ± 1.61 (1.69–4.56)	3.14 ± 1.41 (1.85–4.38)
	Liver	6.53 ± 1.59 (3.96–8.45)	8.40 ± 1.19 (5.15–13.47)	13.68 ± 1.42 (2.21–27.97)	11.77 ± 1.47 (3.85–26.02)
	Gill	8.10 ± 1.14 (3.95–14.63)	7.06 ± 1.31 (3.17–14.50)	26.72 ± 0.87 (3.00–72.04)	20.71 ± 0.83 (6.21–40.15)
Cu	Muscle	2.54 ± 1.27 (0.91–6.99)	4.30 ± 0.80 (1.26–8.81)	1.90 ± 1.05 (1.06–4.32)	2.87 ± 1.38 (0.90–5.93)
	Liver	31.49 ± 0.93 (12.40–86.87)	108.35 ± 0.67 (23.73–271.28)	63.74 ± 0.87 (6.18–358.00)	103.28 ± 1.04 (5.95–338.15)
	Gill	3.29 ± 1.15 (2.42–4.13)	5.93 ± 0.94 (2.74–8.39)	4.57 ± 0.79 (2.72–8.04)	4.93 ± 1.01 (3.23–5.70)
Zn	Muscle	51.48 ± 0.71 (27.25–107.99)	36.39 ± 0.66 (18.85–58.36)	32.01 ± 0.79 (24.48–37.86)	45.77 ± 0.39 (24.97–87.29)
	Liver	131.43 ± 0.86 (94.35–190.74)	111.10 ± 1.58 (70.04–137.79)	118.28 ± 1.02 (62.41–158.26)	120.96 ± 0.94 (70.67–204.07)
	Gill	98.27 ± 0.77 (57.28–120.97)	135.66 ± 0.79 (86.82–219.12)	76.12 ± 0.83 (59.02–107.28)	117.16 ± 0.73 (88.43–218.23)
Cd	Muscle	0.54 ± 0.39 (0.47–0.62)	0.54 ±0.22 (0.40–0.65)	0.52 ± 0.31 (0.39–0.64)	0.54 ± 0.23 (0.37–0.70)
	Liver	1.29 ± 0.74 (0.64–1.85)	0.75 ± 0.79 (0.53–1.19)	0.90 ± 0.72 (0.73–1.41)	0.97 ± 0.75 (0.68–1.50)
	Gill	0.57 ± 0.30 (0.46–0.69)	0.54 ± 0.30 (0.45–0.64)	0.55 ± 0.38 (0.46–0.67)	0.58 ± 0.52 (0.51–0.67)
Pb	Muscle	0.57 ± 0.35 (0.46–0.84)	0.53 ± 0.32 (0.40–0.64)	0.51 ± 0.45 (0.38–0.60)	0.52 ± 0.44 (0.35–0.66)
	Liver	1.06 ± 0.41 (0.47–1.62)	0.75 ± 0.60 (0.57–1.05)	1.08 ± 0.70 (0.51–2.47)	0.96 ± 0.44 (0.62–1.79)
	Gill	1.79 ± 0.70 (0.50–5.29)	1.19 ± 0.80 (0.61–1.94)	1.19 ± 0.78 (0.88–1.59)	1.77 ± 0.83 (0.80–3.98)

a Metal concentrations in tissues collected from individuals of different fish species were statistically compared using one-way ANOVA. All comparisons were statistically significant at p < 0.05.

Table 3

Pearson correlation coefficient (R) and levels of significance (p) for the relationships between heavy metal concentrations in tissues of four fish species caught in the Karasu River and fish size (length and weight)

Tissue	Fishes		Al	Cr	Mn	Fe	Co	Ni	Cu	Zn	Cd	Pb
A. marmid
Muscle	Length	R value	0.634	0.748	0.608	0.613	0.702	0.648	0.717	0.840	0.950	0.786
	Length	p value	^aNS	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS	^b*	^c**	^*
	Weight	R value	0.798	0.893	0.774	0.783	0.857	0.803	0.848	0.933	0.968	0.915
	Weight	p value	^*	^**	^*	^*	^*	^*	^*	^**	^**	^**
Liver	Length	R value	0.777	0.905	0.964	0.879	0.980	0.989	0.778	0.883	0.992	0.988
	Length	p value	^*	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^*	^**	^**	^**
	Weight	R value	0.899	0.984	0.964	0.971	0.912	0.947	0.916	0.957	0.965	0.975
	Weight	p value	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
Gill	Length	R value	0.795	0.813	0.965	0.713	0.990	0.935	0.989	0.899	0.975	0.750
	Length	p value	^*	^*	^**	NS	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	NS
	Weight	R value	0.922	0.940	0.937	0.859	0.943	0.980	0.963	0.827	0.974	0.877
	Weight	p value	^**	^**	^**	^*	^**	^**	^**	^*	^**	^**
C. umbla
Muscle	Length	R value	0.974	0.990	0.873	0.958	0.931	0.897	0.972	0.981	0.968	0.969
	Length	p value	^**	^**	^*	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
	Weight	R value	0.946	0.967	0.939	0.981	0.986	0.938	0.990	0.965	0.932	0.932
	Weight	p value	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
Liver	Length	R value	0.792	0.925	0.814	0.826	0.940	0.972	0.855	0.935	0.830	0.851
	Length	p value	^*	^**	^*	^*	^**	^**	^*	^**	^*	^*
	Weight	R value	0.908	0.954	0.917	0.928	0.962	00.991	0.936	0.883	0.918	0.899
	Weight	p value	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
Gill	Length	R value	0.827	0.836	0.975	0.882	0.982	0.937	0.969	0.941	0.970	0.967
	Length	p value	^*	^*	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
	Weight	R value	0.930	00.939	0.895	0.967	0.976	0.994	0.921	0.991	0.960	0.971
	Weight	p value	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
C. trutta
Muscle	Length	R value	0.849	0.949	0.904	0.875	0.994	0.919	0.716	0.951	0.957	0.991
	Length	p value	^*	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	NS	^**	^**	^**
	Weight	R value	0.932	0.949	0.933	0.927	0.961	0.928	0.833	0.952	0.969	0.967
	Weight	p value	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^*	^**	^**	^**
Liver	Length	R value	0.777	0.568	0.903	0.683	0.880	0.928	0.571	0.989	0.717	0.756
	Length	p value	^*	NS	^**	NS	^**	^**	NS	^**	NS	^*
	Weight	R value	0.880	0.702	0.949	0.805	0.944	0.965	0.711	0.957	0.838	0.864
	Weight	p value	^**	NS	^**	^*	^**	^**	NS	^**	^*	^*
Gill	Length	R value	0.875	0.810	0.885	0.832	0.850	0.848	0.829	0.868	0.889	0.824
	Length	p value	^**	^*	^**	^*	^*	^*	^*	^*	^**	^*
	Weight	R value	0.948	0.913	0.940	0.928	0.940	0.922	0.915	0.937	0.942	0.848
	Weight	p value	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^*
C. regium
Muscle	Length	R value	0.826	0.774	0.954	0.991	0.973	0.979	0.949	0.909	0.961	0.990
	Length	p value	^*	^*	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
	Weight	R value	0.867	0.821	0.973	0.986	0.961	0.978	0.980	0.935	0.932	0.969
	Weight	p value	^*	^*	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
Liver	Length	R value	0.817	0.802	0.799	0.923	0.850	0.900	0.868	0.937	0.878	0.856
	Length	p value	^*	^*	^*	^**	^*	^**	^*	^**	^**	^*
	Weight	R value	0.868	0.858	0.856	0.930	0.902	0.936	0.905	0.958	0.931	0.895
	Weight	p value	^*	^*	^*	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**
Gill	Length	R value	0.963	0.974	0.985	0.984	0.983	0.954	0.932	0.758	0.950	0.857
	Length	p value	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^*	^**	^*
	Weight	R value	0.976	0.977	0.964	0.985	0.970	0.963	0.860	0.806	0.955	0.899
	Weight	p value	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^**	^*	^*	^**	^**

a NS, not significant, p > 0.05;

* b Significant at p < 0.05;

** c Significant at p < 0.01

Table 4

Heavy metal concentrations (mg kg⁻¹) in muscle tissues of four fish species from the Karasu River and Maximum Acceptable Concentrations (MACs) according to international standards

Heavy Metals	Concentrations of heavy metals (mg kg⁻¹) in different species				Maximum Acceptable Concentrations (MACs)
Heavy Metals	A. marmid	C. umbla	C. trutta	C. regium	TFC^a 2002	FAO^b 1983	WHO^c 1985–1996	FAO/WHO 1989	EC^d 2006
Al	129.99	130.63	108.58	95.12
Cr	3.08	2.18	2.15	2.84	–		0.15	0.5/1	–
Mn	5.65	6.13	3.88	6.98	20		0.5–1	2.5	–
Fe	150.92	86.05	55.96	62.02	50		100
Co	0.74	0.54	0.53	0.51					1
Ni	3.89	3.10	3.06	3.14	–		0.6	0.4	40
Cu	2.54	4.30	1.90	2.87	20	30	30	30
Zn	51.48	36.39	32.01	45.77	50	30–150	100	40
Cd	0.54	0.54	0.52	0.54	0.1	0.5	1	0.5	0.05
Pb	0.57	0.53	0.51	0.52	0.1	0.5	2.00	0.5	0.2–0.5