A study of health risk from accumulation of metals in commercial edible fish species at Tuticorin coasts of southern India

The potential for health risks to humans consuming seafood is investigated in this paper through a sampling study of 6 fish species at 7 sites of the Tuticorin coastal region, India, in terms of 8 trace metals measuring their excess concentrations at gills, livers and muscles. An understanding of the complexity of the problem is systematised using Sources-Pathways-Receptors-Consequences framework, in which quantitative results are produced as follows: (i) multivariate statistical techniques provide a focus on sources-pathways by both factor and cluster analyses; (ii) ecological health risk assessment for both children and adults provide a focus on consequences in terms of Hazard Index (HI) and Carcinogenic Risk (CR). An analysis of the data shows that concentrations of metallic elements are found…