Mercury in four common fishes sold in Algeria and associated humans risk

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to analyse the concentrations of mercury in fish samples available in the Algerian market and evaluate the potential health risks associated with their consumption. A total of 135 fish samples, representing the species Sardina pilchardus, Merluccius merluccius, Sparus aurata and Auxis rochie, were collected and analysed. Mercury levels were determined using thermal decomposition amalgamation Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. Health risks were evaluated by calculating hazard quotients. The overall mean concentration was 0.19 ± 0.11 mg/kg across all species. Individual species concentrations were recorded as 0.17 ± 0.08 mg/kg for Sardina pilchardus, 0.26 ± 0.19 mg/kg for Merluccius merluccius, 0.27 ± 0.18 mg/kg for Sparus aurata and 0.23 ± 0.13 mg/kg for Auxis rochei. Hazard quotients were below 1, indicating low health risk for fish consumers. Nevertheless, it is recommended to conduct periodic monitoring of heavy metal levels in fish, coupled with ongoing risk assessments, to ensure continued consumer protection.

KEYWORDS:

• Fish
• mercury
• risk assessment
• food safety

Disclosure statement

The authors declared that they have no specific conflicting financial interests or personal partnerships that could have influenced the work presented in this article.

CRediT author statement

KMA, AL, RFM and HHA: Conceptualisation, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data Curation, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Visualisation. HD and IK, HB: Validation, analysis, technical support.

All authors discussed the review topic, contents and contributed to the final manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data collected and analysed for this study can be shared upon request.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval is not applicable to this study as fish samples used for the analysis of heavy metals were collected from fisheries and market stalls in Algeria.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.