Heavy Metal Concentration in Flesh Muscle of Selected Salted Fish and Health Risk Assessment among Adults in Fishing Villages in Malacca

Salted fish is one of Malaysian popular food products and consumed widely as a delicious complementary dish among locals. This food may be contaminated with heavy metals due to water sources contamination or cross contamination during processing. This research was conducted to determine the lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) concentration in flesh muscle of selected salted fish and to assess the health risk of adults in a fishing village in Malacca. A total of 118 respondents were randomly recruited based on inclusion criteria and interviewed to obtain socio-demographic information as well as salted fish frequency intake by using pre-tested questionnaires. Four types of salted fish namely kembong (Psettodescrumei), bulu ayam (Thryssamystax), gelama (Decapterus russelli) and parang (Makrochirichthys makrochirus) were analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) to determine the heavy metals concentrations. Health risk were calculated for Hazard Quotient (HQ) for non-carcinogenic and Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR) for carcinogenic health effects. Results showed that heavy metals detected in flesh muscle of salted fish ranged as follow: Cr (9.137 mg/kg) >Pb (2.580 mg/kg) > Cd (0.367 mg/kg) >As (0.213 mg/kg) respectively. As compared to the Food Regulation 1985, Cr and Pb concentration exceeded the permitted level of 1 and 2 mg/kg respectively. The calculated health risk due to consumption of selected salted fish showed that HQ and LCR fall under acceptable risk for all fish type. Heavy metals were detected in salted fish in this study which indicated certain levels of