Heavy metal concentrations in commercial deep-sea fish from the Rockall Trough

Abstract Samples of monkfish ( Lophius piscatorius ), black scabbard ( Aphanopus carbo ), blue ling ( Molva dypterygia ), blue whiting ( Micromesistius poutassou ) and hake ( Merluccius merluccius ) were obtained from 400 to 1150 m depth on the continental slope of Rockall Trough west of Scotland. Muscle, liver, gill and gonad tissue were analysed for arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc by various atomic absorption techniques. Median concentrations of arsenic in the muscle tissue ranged from 1.25 to 8.63 mg/kg wet weight; in liver tissue from 3.04 to 5.72 mg/kg wet weight; cadmium in muscle tissue from