Heavy-metal content (arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury) was investigated and evaluated in shellfish, oysters and squids. The samples were collected weekly for 20 weeks from a fishery product market in Hungary. The concentration of heavy metals was measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) analysis after sample preparation. The results were analysed statistically by one-way ANOVA method. The average concentration of arsenic (3.01 ± 1.46 mg kg-1) in shellfish was significantly higher (p < 0.001) compared to oysters (2.88 ± 1.12 mg kg-1) and squids (1.28 ± 0.52 mg kg-1). The level of mercury was below the limit of detection (0.5 mg kg-1) in each sample and there was no statistical significance in the concentrations of cadmium (p = 0.351) and lead (p = 0.412) in the species investigated. The provisional tolerable intake values were also calculated. Based on the obtained results of the heavy-metal content of the investigated samples, the seafood is considered to be safe for human consumption. However, prolonged ingestion of oysters and squids at these levels may contribute to the consumers' cadmium burden.
Keywords: Seafood; arsenic; cadmium; food safety; heavy metals; lead; mercury; oysters; shellfish; squid; tolerable intakes.