Over the last decades, there has been growing interest in determining heavy metal levels in the marine environment and attention was drawn to the measurement of contamination levels in public food supplies, particularly
seafood. The aim of this study was to determine the current levels of total copper, chromium, cadmium, lead, manganese ,magnesium, zinc and mercury in two crustacean species namely Penaeus sp. and Portunus sp. and one molluscan cephalopod species (Sepia sp.) which were caught from Saudi Arabia coastlines on the Arabian Gulf to ascertain whether these concentrations exceeded the permissible limits and to identify any potential public health risks that could be associated with dietary intakes of such seafood from the Arabian Gulf.
The results revealed that the average concentrations of these heavy metals, except for cadmium, in edible muscles of Sepia were higher than that of prawn and crab. The mean concentrations of these metals, except for chromium
and lead, were lower in edible tissues of the prawn than that in the crab. Furthermore, it was recorded that mercury was not detected in edible muscles of both prawn and crab. Therefore, metals levels in tissues of these aquatic
organisms were found below the maximum content recommended by health agencies and so they are considered safe for human consumption.