Mercury, cadmium and lead levels in Bagrus bayad fish from the river Nile, Delta Region, Egypt.

A total of 50 random samples of Bagrus bayad were collected from various localities of River Nile at lower Egypt and were analyzed for determination of Hg, Cd and Pb concentrations by AAS. The obtained results revealed that the concentrations of Hg, Cd and Pb in fish muscles were ranged from 0.026 to 0.391, 0.028 to 0.053 and 0.022 to 0.654 with mean +/- SE values of 0.190 +/- 0.017, 0.048 +/- 0.003 and 0.215 +/- 0.047 microg/g wet weight, respectively. 24% and 6% of the examined fish samples exceeded the maximal permissible limit set by FAO/WHO (1992) for Cd and Pb, respectively. Whereas none of the examined samples exceeded the maximal limit for Hg. The possible health hazards of heavy metals as well as the suggestive measures for minimizing the pollution of fish and water had been discussed.