concentration of some heavy metals (lead, arsenic & cadmium) in edible tissues of astacus leptodactylus from aras dam of azerbaijan region, iran

Heavy metals can pose a serious threat to aquatic fauna through exposure, bioaccumulation and biomagnification processes. the aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of some elements in the edible tissues of astacus leptodactylus to establish the healthiness of this product and to assess the pollution status of the sampling sites of aras dam (northwest of iran) in 2021. for this purpose, freshwater crayfish a. leptodactylus (weight range 80-130 g) were collected in spring from three points of the aras dam using special traps. in this study, the concentrations of some of the most important heavy metals, including lead, arsenic and cadmium, were evaluated and were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. the results showed that pb (0.229±0.021), cd (0.046±0.012) and as (0.218±0.035) ppm were the minimum concentrations in the meat of a. leptodactylus. according to the data, the crayfish a. leptodactylus from the aras reservoir would be suitable as a food resource because of the low content of heavy metals in its soft tissues.