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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Levels of Particular Trace Elements
in Some Tigris River’s Fish Species
and Evaluation of Their Health Risks
1
Middle Technical University, Medical Technical Institute of Baghdad 10047, Iraq
2
Middle Technical University, Technical Institute of Baquba, Baquba, Diyala 32001, Iraq
3
Middle Technical University, Technical Instructor Training Institute, Baghdad 10074, Iraq
4
LR/18/ES30 Marine Biodiversity and Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Sfax Faculty of Sciences,
University of Sfax, Soukra Road Km 3.5. BP 1171 – P.O.Box 3000 Sfax, Tunisia
Submission date: 2024-08-19
Final revision date: 2024-11-06
Acceptance date: 2024-12-02
Online publication date: 2025-03-03
Publication date: 2026-01-30
Corresponding author
Zaher Drira
LR/18/ES30 Marine Biodiversity and Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Sfax Faculty of Sciences, University of Sfax, Soukra Road Km 3.5. BP 1171 – P.O.Box 3000 Sfax, Tunisia
LR/18/ES30 Marine Biodiversity and Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Sfax Faculty of Sciences, University of Sfax, Soukra Road Km 3.5. BP 1171 – P.O.Box 3000 Sfax, Tunisia
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2026;35(1):533-548
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The concentrations of selected trace elements such as Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb), Manganese (Mn),
Cadmium (Cd), Cobalt (Co), and Nickel (Ni) were assessed in the muscle, gill, and liver of three
selective fish species, namely Cyprinus carpio (L, 1758), Aspius vorax (Heckel, 1843), and Barbus
xanthopterus (Heckel, 1843). Samples were collected between March 2022 and February 2023
from four strategically chosen sites spanning different areas of the river. The results indicate that
the trace elements are clearly concentrated in the muscle and gill according to the following order:
Fe>Pb>Mn>Cd>Co>Ni. However, in the liver, the results showed that these trace elements followed
the concentration levels Fe>Pb>Cd>Mn>Co>Ni. This result confirms our findings that muscles, which
are the edible portion of the fish for the Iraqi people, contain higher levels of Cd, which exceeded
the permissible limits, especially in Cyprinus carpio in sites 1 and 2. Barbus xanthopterus has
registered the highest concentration of Cd if compared to the safety limit in all sampled sites. Fe and
Cd in the muscle and liver in Cyprinus carpio displayed significant differences between sites (ANOVA,
p<0.0001). The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) confirms our results that Co and Mn in site
3 were associated with the three fish species (Cyprinus carpio in muscle tissue, Aspius vorax in the
liver, and Barbus xanthopterus in the gill). However, Cd, Co, Mn, and Ni in site 4 were associated with
the liver and gill in Cyprinus carpio and with muscle tissue in Aspius vorax. The estimated daily intakes for
all trace elements were lower than the tolerable daily intakes. Therefore, the consumption of fish species
would not cause health problems for consumers. Whereas the total target hazard quotients (TTHQs)
for Barbus xanthopterus from sites 2, 3, and 4 exceed one, this means that there may be a potential
for adverse non–cancer health effects to occur. This proposes a potential health risk for individuals who consume large quantities of this fish species from these specific sites. These findings suggested that
fish should be used, under a future project of biomonitoring programs, as bioindicators for trace element
contamination and a relevant tool for water quality assessment in the Tigris River.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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