Trace metals concentrations in marine organisms from the coastal areas of Bahrain,Arabian Gulf

A total of 162 fish and shellfish samples representing important species have been collected from different coastal areas of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf, and analyzed for lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometric method. The dverall mean levels for Pb, Cd, Hg and As in fish samples were 0.132, 0.032, 0.084 and 1.7 µg g^?1 wet weight, respectively, whereas for shellfish they were 0.149, 0.045, 0.042 and 3.61 µg g^?1 wet weight. These values indicate higher levels of metals in shellfish when compared with fish, except for mercury, and reveal that generally the levels of metals in these organisms are lower than existing guidelines, except for arsenic. The provisional tolerable weekly intake of Pb, Cd, Hg and As through fish was estimated to be 0.7, 0.17, 0.45 and 9 µg kg^?1 bodyweight per week, respectively. Our results did not reveal a clear pattern regarding variations of metals concentration between areas and species.