International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No.9, 76-87
76
Research Article Open Access
Contamination of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in
Katsuwonus pelamis
(Linnaeus, 1758)
from Karachi Fish Harbor and Potential Risks to Human Health
Quratulan Ahmed
1
, Levent Bat
2
, Farzana Yousuf
3
1 The Marine Reference Collection and Resources Centre, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
2 Sinop University Fisheries Faculty, Department of Hydrobiology, TR57000 Sinop, Turkey
3 Department of Zoology, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
Corresponding email
International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No. 9 doi
Received: 07 Mar., 2017
Accepted: 31 Mar., 2017
Published: 05 Apr., 2017
Copyright © 2017
Ahmed et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Ahmed Q., Bat L., and Yousuf F., 2017, Contamination of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in
Katsuwonus pelamis
(Linnaeus, 1758) from Karachi fish harbor and potential
risks to human health, International Journal of Marine Science, 7(9): 76-87 (doi
Abstract
In the present study, skipjack tuna (
Katsuwonus pelamis
) from the Karachi coast between 2006 and 2011 were chosen and
analyzed for the Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn levels in the edible dorsal tissues, livers, kidney, gills and gonads. The liver tissues h ad the
highest concentrations of metals (623±103 mg kg-1 for Fe, 49±13 mg kg-1 for Mn, 67±17 mg kg-1 for Cu and 68±21 mg kg-1 for
Zn). The muscle maximum concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn were 46±17, 6±2, 7±2 and 7±2 mg kg-1, respectively. The results
revealed that Fe concentrations were higher than those of other metals. The values obtained were compared with the international
regulation maximal allowable standards in seafood. The current work attested that calculated diurnal and hebdomadal intakes o f Fe,
Mn, Cu and Zn levels by way of consumption of skipjack tuna were not in excess of the Permissible Tolerable Daily Intake (PTDI)
and Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) values established by FAO/WHO. In conclusion,
K. pelamis
appears to be useful
bioindicator due to their accumulation of the metals and continued sampling and pollution effects on food chain organisms
comparatively are required for further investigations.
Keywords
Heavy metals;
Katsuwonus pelamis
; Arabian Sea; Karachi; Estimated Daily Intakes
Introduction
The family Scombridae incorporates many of the world’s most popular and commercial fishes. Tunas, mackerels
and bonitos as a member of Scombrids are important sources of energy and protein and dietary associated with
good health. In the Mediterranean countries, tunas have been caught locally for many years, yet intense
commercial misuse of open-ocean tunas has led in some cases to decrease of tuna populations. Many of the tuna
captured is used for canning (Anonymous, 2017). Pakistan has a coastline of well -nigh 990 km throughout with
contiguous coastal zone of 240,000 km
2
in Northern Arabian Sea. Its’ coastal zone has rich living and non-living
resources. The Karachi coastline of Pakistan accelerating pollution grade which is related to the extending of the
shipping industry via port, is heavily contaminating the mangrove and aquatic life. Industries produce great
amount of their waste (Anonymous, 1991a). Untreated contaminant and sewage are discharge into the marine
coasts alongside oil spills from ships and fishing activities through the port. (Anonymous, 1991b). The Karachi
coast is subject to pollution owing to anthropogenic activities such as domestic and industrial effluents, shipping
and fishing activities, and consolidated chemicals from agricultural run-off from various hot spots (Rizvi
et al.,
1988; Saleem and Kazi, 1995; 1998; Saifullah et al., 2002). Most of the coastal pollution is condensed in the
Karachi harbour where an approximated 90,000 tons of oil products from ships and seaport are drained off every
year. Fish are the upper of the marine food chain and may bioconcentration of great quantities of some metals
from surrounding water (Mansour and Sidky, 2002). In contaminated marine coastal environments, fish may be
accumulated the metals in their edible tissue (Ahmed and Bat, 2015a; 2015b; 2015c; 2015d; 2015e; 2015f). Metal
levels in the fishes determined as biomarkers can render as an index of the biologically existing metal burden.
Hereby the metal levels in the edible tissues of fish can ensure a criterion for the extent of pollution in coastal
waters. Muscle is a fish tissue mostly selected for assay because of edible tissue (Ahmed and Bat, 2015b). In
addition to this, liver is a vital organ for metals storage (Ahmed and Bat, 2015a; 2015c; 2015e; Ahmed et al.,
