Heavy Metals Profile Assessment in the Liver and Muscle Tissues of Nile Tilapia at The End of Production Cycle

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the heavy metals profile in liver and muscle tissues of Nile tilapia at the end of the production cycle. To determine the concentration of 10 heavy metals in liver and muscle tissues of Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) cultured in natural and tap water, the samples of fish cultured for ten months were randomly collected and analyzed for Cadmium, Zinc, Lead, Copper, Manganese, Iron, Nickel, Chromium, Mercury, and Arsenate by Spectrophotometric method. The results revealed that the concentrations of heavy metals in fish samples collected from natural water were higher than that of samples collected from tap water. This concluded that, the concentrations of heavy metals in liver and muscle tissues of Nile tilapia reflect their concentrations in culture water and confirm its possibility to be an aquatic friendly environment.