Assessment of heavy metal concentrations in (Sardinapilchardus) caught in the Mediterranean coast from the North East of Morocco

The Moroccan coast corresponds to a space of intense economic activities (industrial, agricultural, domestic,...etc), and thus constitutes the receptacle of significant quantities of substances of natural or anthropic origin, many of which possess toxic properties. Heavy metals are pollutants whose harmfulness is related to their persistence and their speciation. They are poorly metabolized, so they can be transferred to the food web and accumulate in living matter. In order to assess the level of pollution by metallic trace elements in the Moroccan coast, we have determined the concentration of (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Fe, Zn, Cr) in the muscles, gills and livers, of Sardina pilchardus caught in the Mediterranean coast from the North East of Morocco, landed in the port of Nador during the autumn and spring of the years 2019 and 2020 .Concentrations of heavy metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma- atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Except the iron the concentrations of the metal elements studied were generally within the limit allowed by the WHO for human consumption.