Safety of Marine Molluscs Consumption

This study assessed the levels of five heavy metals; lead (Pb), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr) in the soft tissues of three dominant molluscs species (Donax pulchellus, Donax rugosus and Olivancillaria hiatula) inhabiting the intertidal zone of three sandy beaches (Chorkor, Bortianor and La beach) in Accra, Ghana. The molluscs were randomly sampled at low tide between (5:30 - 10:00 a.m.) from February 2016 to August, 2017 and grouped into two size classes; small ( 20 mm) shell length. The concentrations of heavy metals in the tissue of the molluscs were analyzed using an Atomic Emission Spectrophotometry. The concentrations of Pb, Cu, Fe, Cr, and Zn were 0.01, 0.56, 20.78, 0.22 and 1.85gkg-1, respectively, for D. pulchellus; 0.02, 0.46, 48.22, 0.59 and 9.27gkg-1, respectively, for D. rugosus and 0.02, 3.32, 5.38, 0.44 and 10.8gkg-1 respectively for O. hiatula.Fe and Zn were the most abundant while Pb was least accumulated by the molluscs.

Autorentext

Patrick Kojo Tachie ha conseguito il Master of Philosophy in Fisheries Science and Watershed Management presso la Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. È determinato ad approfondire il suo interesse per la ricerca perseguendo il dottorato.