Assessment of Cadmium, Mercury and Lead contents of frozen Eurorean sea bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax L., 1758) and Gilthead sea bream ( Sparus aurata L., 1758) fillet from Turkey

Abstract

In this study, trace metals [cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb)] consentration of 76 pieces of frozen European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax Linnaeus-1758) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata Linnaeus-1758) fillets, produced and marketed in Turkey, were determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) after microwave damp burning process, and results obtained were assessed in terms of public health. This study was conducted from June 2010 to July 2011. At the end of study, maximum heavy metal levels for sea bass and sea bream fillets were determined as 256.50, 216.22 µg/kg for Cd; 414.79, 338.46 µg/kg for Hg ve 1047.61, 147.14 µg/kg for Pb, respectively. At the end of the study, the levels of cadmium (for 3 samples) and lead (for 1 samples) were higher than the recommended legal limits of the European Union for human consumption. It was detected that the fillets which were analyzed was good quality from the point of cadmium, mercury and lead contents.