risk assessment of heavy metal bioaccumulation in raw crab and prawn flesh marketed in egypt

Background: heavy metal toxicity at low levels damages the function of the brain, lungs, kidney, liver, blood composition, and other important organs. long-term exposure leads to gradual disease progression in multiple sclerosis, parkinson’s disease, alzheimer’s disease, muscular dystrophy, and cancer. the present work aims to determine the pollution caused by the levels and effects of heavy metals, i.e. nickel, zinc, chromium, and copper, in marine organisms (crabs and shrimps). methods: in total, 100 crustacean samples (50 crabs and 50 prawns) were analyzed in terms of nickel, zinc, chromium, and copper residues using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. the health risk assessment method of the consumption of tested tissues was investigated through determining the estimated daily intake (edi), target hazard quotient (thq), and hazard index (hi). results: the concentrations of nickel, zinc, chromium, and copper in the crab samples were 0.292 ± 0.02, 20.688 ± 3.06, 1.158 ± 0.01, and 22.304 ± 4.04 μg/g of wet weight, respectively. moreover, the values in the prawn samples were 0.373 ± 0.01, 16.204 ± 2.01, 0.844 ± 0.01, and 18.524 ± 1.03 μg/g of wet weight, respectively. conclusion: our findings could lay the groundwork for monitoring the heavy metal contamination of marine organisms. the estimated daily detection intake of nickel, zinc, chromium, and copper was below the reported the provisional tolerable daily intake (ptdi) of each element. in addition, thq and hi values of the heavy metals were below 1.00 in the crab and shrimp samples, suggesting no significant risks to the community health due to the consumption of the crab and shrimp samples.