Evaluation of Essential Elements and Heavy Metals in Sardine Fish from Kivukoni, Kunduchi and Bagamoyo Fish Markets in Tanzania

This study has assessed the concentrations of the essential elements Ca, Cu, Fe, Se and Zn as well as the toxic heavy metals Al, As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb in samples of sardine fish collected from Kivukoni, Kunduchi and Bagamoyo fish markets. The collected fish samples were oven dried, grinded to fine powder and compressed to pellets. The pellets obtained were analyzed for both essential elements and toxic heavy metals using Energy Dispersive X- rays Fluorescence Spectroscopy (EDXRF). The mean concentrations of the analyzed elements were compared to the maximum tolerable levels (MTLs) set by international organizations. The mean concentrations of Ca, Se, Zn, As, Cr, and Cd were higher than their MTLs while, the mean concentrations of Cu and Ni were lower than their MTLs for samples from all fish markets. The mean concentrations of Al and Fe were higher than their MTLs for samples from Kunduchi and Bagamoyo fish markets. The mean concentrations of Pb were below the detection limit (0.50) µg/g for the spectrometer used in this study. The MTLs for Ca, Fe, Cu, Se, Zn, Al, Cr, Ni, As, and Cd were 130,000 ; 200 ; 30 ; 40 ; 0.75 ; 100 ; 0.15 ; 2.00 ; 0.50 ; 0.50 ; and 2.00 µg/g respectively, according to FAO/WHO 2002, WHO 1983, COMA 1998, CFS2009, WHO1985, COT 2003 and CODEX 2005.