The content and associated health risk assessment of toxic elements, micro-, and macrominerals in common carp, Wels catfish, and silver carp from the Danube River in Serbia.

Three fish species (common carp, Wels catfish, and silver carp) were collected from three locations along the Danube River in Serbia, and fish meat was analyzed for the content of toxic elements, micro- and macrominerals. Silver carp had the highest lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and cadmium (Cd) content, while Wels catfish had the highest level of mercury (Hg). Moreover, metal pollution index (MPI) ranged from 0.1096 to 0.275 and among the fish, the silver carp had the highest MPI (from 0.21 to 0.28), indicating that it could be reliable bioindicator of river pollution. Maximum determined levels of As (0.1968 mg/kg of w.w.), Hg (0.175 mg/kg of w.w.), and Pb (0.0315 mg/kg of w.w.) did not exceed values prescribed by the European Commission Regulation, Codex Alimentarius Commission, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and national regulations, but Cd in silver carp was at levels higher than prescribed (0.0808 mg/kg of w.w.). Furthermore, our study's results showed that the target hazard quotient (THQ) of each analyzed element and hazard index (HI) were < 1, indicating that consumers would not be exposed to adverse health effects after consuming these fish species from the Danube River. Regarding target cancer risk (TR), for Pb this was below 10 ^-6 , which was regarded as negligible, while TRs for As and Cr were between 10 ^-4 and 10 ^-6 , which was regarded as acceptable. Moreover, since the studied fish had low values of health risk indexes, it could be concluded that fish meat did not pose a significant risk to human health.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Confict of interest: The authors declare no confict of interest. Ethical approval: All research involving fish in this study was conducted in accordance with ethical standards and existing legal regulations in Serbia. All the authors have read, understood, and complied with the statement on “Ethical responsibilities of Authors”, as found in the Instructions for Authors.
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