Trace metals in flatfish from the southern Baltic, 1983.

The cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, and nickel concentrations have been determined in muscle tissue of 35 turbot Psetta maxima, 27 plaice Pleuronectes platessa and 103 flounders Platichthys flesus netted in 1983 in a different regions in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. The method of measurement was atomic-absorption spectrophotometry. The mean values obtained for turbot, plaice and flounder were 0.012, 0.009 and 0.013 for cadmium, 0.16, 0.17 and 0.12 for lead, 0.15, 0.14 and 0.18 for copper, 5.0, 4.5 and 4.4 for zinc, 2.2, 1.9 and 3.4 for iron, 0.14, 0.087 and 0.14 for manganese, and 0.24, 0.19 and 0.14 for nickel (mg/kg wet weight), respectively. The contents of cadmium and lead in muscles of flatfish examined appear to be generally low and poses no threat for human consumption.