Assessment of metal toxicity and associated health risks from the consumption of Tenualosa ilisha in a developing country

This study aimed to assess the level of trace metal contamination, which included arsenic (As), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and chromium (Cr) in the Hilsha ( Tenualosa ilisha ) collected from 10 fish markets in Khulna, Bangladesh. Sixty samples were analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique. The mean metal concentrations were 1.38±0.24 (arsenic), 183.04±30.5513 (iron), 32.589±3.896 (manganese), 4.60±0.648 (copper), 159.23±25.372 (zinc), 2.62±0.3645 (lead), and 2.7599±0.3797 (chromium). The accumulation exceeded the safe limits for several elements. The health risk assessment revealed that while the individual Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) for adults and children (except Arsenic for children) were below 1, the Total Target Hazard Quotients (TTHQ) were 2.5876, which can be seen to exceed the safe limit. The carcinogenic risk assessment showed up with the surplus of threshold limit of 1×10 -4 , for arsenic (As) and chromium (Cr), in both adults and children. These findings indicate significant health risks, especially for children. So, continuous monitoring and control of the pollution and the sources of the pollution by the concerned authority are urgently needed. • Current work reveals an important issue on food safety in Bangladesh. • Heavy metals in the vital protein source national fish (Hilsha) were measured. • Total intakes of Cr, Pb and As from fish were above the acceptable limits. • Pointed a higher chance of negative health outcomes due to fish consumption.