A Comprehensive Assessment of Health Risks Associated with Heavy Metal Through Ingestion of Two Predominant Fish Species in a Developing Country

The existence of heavy metal pollutants in fish within aquatic ecosystems presents a threat to human health due to trophic shift. This research sought to identify the concentrations of cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and chromium (Cr) in two economically significant cultured fish species, pangus (Pangasius hypophthalmus) and catla (Labeo catla), which were sourced from key fish markets in Khulna, Bangladesh. Nevertheless, there has been a scarcity of studies addressing the metal concentrations in these species within this region. To evaluate the levels of trace elements, atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) was employed following the acid digestion of the samples. The concentrations of Cd, As, Cu, Pb, and Cr were observed as 0.372, 0.232, 0.741, 0.758, and 1.356 mg/kg in pangus and 0.395, 0.297, 1.175, 0.616, and 0.959 mg/kg in catla fish, respectively. The concentrations of Pb and Cd exceeded the maximum permissible limits established by the FAO and WHO. Apart from Cu, the estimated daily intakes (EDI) for both seasons and age groups exceeded the recommended daily allowance (RDA), indicating that other trace elements could be detrimental to human health. In contrast, the calculated hazard index (HI) and total hazard quotient (THQ) remained below 1, suggesting that the fish examined would not pose health risks to adults but the HI value for children surpassed the acceptable limit. Moreover, Cd (for adult group) and Cd and Cr (for children group) surpassed the acceptable range for carcinogenic risk (CR), and the total carcinogenic risk (TCR) exceeded the permissible limit for both groups. This study concluded that studied fishes may represent a health risk for consumers, underscoring the necessity for ongoing monitoring of trace elements in other fish species within that catchment area.