Accumulation of mercury and zinc in muscle tissue of four species of fishes in Caspian Sea (Case study: coastal of Mahmoud Abad-Noshahr)

Nowadays, population growth, development of various industries and expansion of agricultural areas have led to high volume of various pollutants, especially heavy metals, into the aquatic environment. Hence, in this study investigated the amount of mercury and zink in fish consumed including Mugil cephalous Linnaeus, Rutilus frisii kutum, Cyprinus carpio and Sander lucioperca from Mahmoud Abad to Noshahr from the southern coast of the Caspian Sea in winter, 2018. 10 samples of each fish were randomly caught and analyzed for metals. Advanced mercury analyzer was used to measure mercury and flame atomic absorption was used to measure zinc. The highest amount of mercury was measured in muscle tissue of Sander lucioperca with 0.68 μg. g dry weight and its lowest with 0.33 μg. g dry weight in Mugil cephalous Linnaeus. In the case of zinc metal, the highest amount was found in 67.66 μg. g dry weight of muscle tissue of Sander lucioperca and 48.68 μg. g dry weight in muscle tissue of Cyprinus carpio. Also, the results showed that a person with weight in at 70 kilograms, only 10 grams per day, or 1.5 servings per month, could use of Sander lucioperca. In general, the results showed that the metal content in Mugil cephalous Linnaeus, which is a carnivorous species, was higher than that of Cyprinus carpio, which are bento-pelagic species. Based on the amount of mercury in muscle tissue of Mugil cephalous Linnaeus, this restriction was observed.