Study of the Toxic Contaminants Cadmium and Lead in Sardines (Sardina pilchardus) in the Bay of Algiers (Algeria)

The study of the discharge of metallic pollutants into the marine environment through biological material such as sardines makes it possible to evaluate the quality of the biological resources and of the marine environment. The sardine (Sardina pilchardus) is the most popular species for fishing and the most consumed species by the Algiers population. Two toxic metals that can affect human health are studied in this fish. A year of sampling with fishermen was conducted. Sampling was done in the spring, in the autumn, and in April between April 2014 and April 2015. Sampled sardines were grouped by size classes. The gills and muscle were recovered by size classes. The results were explored using a principal components analysis and compared by a Mann-Whitney distribution test. An atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used in the laboratory for analysis. The most important results show that lead levels were higher than those of cadmium in the gills and muscle. For sardines, lead contamination appears to have both gill and food origins. Mann-Whitney comparison tests confirmed this homogeneous distribution of lead between the gills and muscle. The correlation between cadmium in the gills and height or weight is more substantial than that with muscle. The origin of cadmium in sardines is branchial. The food origin appears secondary. From our point of view, the effect of season, i.e., winter (December) and spring (April), favors an increase in metal levels in parallel to the production reserves planned for spawning. The effect of season was observed by use of a biplot. A significant reduction in cadmium and lead content was observed in September. The high temperature, an environmental factor, induced stress that reduced the metal concentrations and the decontamination induced by the issuance of genital products in early summer.