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Highlights: • The first time to consider the potential health risk for consuming fish head. • Fish head poses a higher potential risk than both ventral muscle and dorsal muscle. • The fat was separated and the chromium contents in it were extremely low. • The accumulation of chromium was not associated with fat. Abstract In this study, bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) were exposed to waterborne Cr6+ of 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 5 mg/L for 14 days and subsequently transferred to clean water for another 14 days. The Cr6+ contents in some edible parts, such as dorsal muscle, ventral muscle and head were detected. The Cr6+ concentrations in the three parts were in the order of: head > ventral muscle > dorsal muscle with significant increase during exposure period and remarkable decrease when kept at clean water during depuration stage. The head contained higher fat than that of muscle and the Cr6+ levels of these parts showed significantly positive correlation with fat content, however, the Cr6+ contents in the separated fat were extremely low. The Cr6+ levels determined in tissues can tell a real story rather than the correlation coefficient. Fish head poses a higher potential health risk than muscle due to heavy metals pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Toxicokinetics of Cr6+ in 10 tissues of A. nobilis were invesigated. • Cr6+ in kidney and spleen of A. nobilis significantly increased after depuration. • The antioxidant responses to Cr6+ were organ-specific. • There was no risk of fish consumption. The present study investigated the accumulation and depuration effects of hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) in ten tissues (gills, intestines, liver, kidney, blood, heart, bladder, spleen, skin and muscle) of the bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis). Fish were exposed to graded levels of waterborne Cr6+ (0.01, 0.1, 1 and 5 mg/L) for 4, 7 and 14 days, and subsequently transferred to Cr6+-free water for 14 days. After 14-day exposure, a dose-dependent increase of Cr6+ has been observed in most tissues. While after 14-day depuration, Cr6+ contents were significantly decreased in various tissues except in kidney and spleen where Cr6+ contents significantly increased at the group of 5 mg/L. Considering that Cr6+ highly accumulated in gills, intestines, liver and kidney, the oxidative damage of Cr6+ on the four tissues were further investigated and found that the antioxidant response to Cr6+ were organ-specific. The results in this study indicated that a 14-day period is effective for accumulation and depuration of Cr6+ in bighead carp and there was no health risk of fish muscle consumption. Additionally, the delayed efflux of Cr6+ in the fish kidney and spleen indicates that high importance should be attached to them when evaluating the toxic effects and risk assessments of Cr6+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]