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. 2025 Sep 1;15(1):32047.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-15942-5.

Health risks and contamination degrees associated with heavy metals in three coastal fish from the Red Sea

Mahmoud Mahrous M Abbas  1 , Yasmine Mohamed EKraim  2 , Abdullah S Alnasser  3 , Mohamed H Ghanem  4
Affiliations

Health risks and contamination degrees associated with heavy metals in three coastal fish from the Red Sea

Mahmoud Mahrous M Abbas et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

This study focuses on the levels of heavy metals (HMCs) in the commonly consumed marine fish from the Aqaba Gulf, Red Sea, Egypt. It evaluates the effectiveness of soaking treatments as a novel approach to reducing HMCs. The order of metals varied among species, with sigan and bongos fish following Mn < Ni < Cu < B < Fe < Zn, while mallas fish followed Mn < Ni < Cu < Zn < Fe < B. The highest level in untreated samples was observed in sigan for Zn (67.60 ± 2.34 µg/g ww-b), while the lowest was recorded in bongos for Mn (0.96 ± 0.07 µg/g ww-b). Soaking treatments significantly reduced HMCs in all species, as confirmed by environmental risk indices. Risk assessments revealed that the hazard index (HI-HMCs) values for children often exceeded the acceptable threshold of HI-HMCs ≤ 1, suggesting potential health risks despite reductions achieved through soaking. Among the soaking methods, the mixed soaked treatment, which combined salt and apple vinegar, showed the most pronounced reduction in metal levels, demonstrating a synergistic effect. In conclusion, while soaking treatments effectively mitigate HMCs contamination, further efforts are required to develop safer fish processing methods, particularly to safeguard vulnerable groups like children.

Keywords: Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks; Environmental assessment; Heavy metals; Pollution mitigation; Soaking treatments.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map showing study area of Newaba City, Aqaba Gulf, Red Sea, Egypt.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Impact of soaking treatments on HMCs (mg/kg ww basis, means ± SD, n = 5) in three marine fish fillets from Newaba City, Aqaba Gulf, Red Sea. *The differences in letters (p < 0.5, one-way ANOVA) show significant alterations in treatments for each species.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Heatmap showing Pearson correlation coefficients based on HMCs in three marine fish fillets from Newaba City, Aqaba Gulf, Red Sea.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Impact of soaking treatments on pollution index (PI-HMCs) of HMCs in three marine fish from Newaba City, Aqaba Gulf, Red Sea.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Impact of soaking treatments on MPI-HMCs values in three marine fish fillets from Newaba City, Aqaba Gulf, Red Sea.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Impact of soaking treatments on hazard index (HI) of HMCs in marine fish fillets from for children, young, and adult consumers: variation based on different soaking treatments.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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