ABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to determine the concentration of mercury in edible muscle of five commercially valuable marine organisms from Mosa Bay, Persian Gulf, Iran. The total mercury concentrations were determined by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometry and expressed in micro g/g dry weight. Certified reference materials were used for each batch of analysis. Mercury concentration was 0.373 micro g/g for Liza abu, 1.172 micro g/g Sparidentex hast, 0.455 micro g/g for Acanthopagrus latus, 0.390 micro g/g for Thunnus tonggol, and 0.360 micro g/g for Fenneropenaeus indicus. Carnivorous fish had higher level of mercury than non-carnivorous. Statistical analysis revealed weak correlation between fish mercury and length for all studied organisms. The observed concentrations were comparable to those found in other areas of the Persian gulf and were lower than the WHO guideline of 0.5 mg/kg wet weight. Our result demonstrated that estimated daily and weekly intakes of mercury via consumption of fish flesh were far below the PTDI and PTWI values recommended by FAO/WHO