RESEARCH ARTICLE Health risks from trace elements in muscles of some commonly available fish in Australia and India Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman 1,2 & Muhammad Tahir Shehzad 1,3 & Amaresh Kumar Nayak 1,4 & Shruti Sharma 1,2 & Marjana Yeasmin 1,2 & Srikanta Samanta 5 & Ray Correll 6 & Ravi Naidu 1,2 Received: 29 October 2019 /Accepted: 25 March 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract The levels of trace elements (As, Hg, Cr, Cd, Pb, Co, Ni, Cu, Mn and Zn) in commercially important fish species sampled from fish markets of Adelaide, Australia; canned fish from South Australian supermarkets; and fish markets of West Bengal, India were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after microwave digestion. Mercury was deter- mined by using triple quadrupole ICP-MS. The accuracy of the methods was assessed with a certified standard reference material (NRCC-DORM-3 dogfish protein), and the results were compared with values reported in the literature. The results indicated considerable variations in the accumulation of trace elements among the fish species. The relationship between species with respect to trace element concentrations was examined using cluster analysis, which showed Indian fish species forming distinct groups from the others. Other than As in sardines, whiting and snapper and Hg in swordfish and snapper, the trace element concentrations were within permissible limits recommended by various standards. Based on the estimated daily intake (EDI), fish samples analysed in this study can be considered safe for human consumption as per the recommended daily dietary allowance limit fixed by various agencies. Continuous monitoring and assessments of fish metal(loid) content are needed to generate more data and safeguard human health. Keywords Fish . Trace elements . Estimated daily intake . Principal component analysis . Human health Introduction Fish represent an important component of human diet and a rich source of protein, minerals, vitamins and omega-3 polyunsatu- rated fatty acids, i.e. eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (Copat et al. 2013; Domingo et al. 2007; Mohanty et al. 2015). Fish can accumulate toxic trace elements from contaminated fresh and marine water habi- tats in their tissues (Ahmed et al. 2016; Kalantzi et al. 2016; Samanta 2013). Contamination comes from various sources such as agricultural runoff, discharges of industrial sewage water and chemical spills (Mishra et al. 2007; Satheeshkumar and Senthilkumar 2011), which pollute the water, sediments and aquatic flora and fauna. Trace elements are non-biodegradable and can bioaccumulate in different organs of fish (DeForest et al. 2007) by absorption through gills, ingestion of sediments, ad- sorption on tissues and membrane surfaces and consumption of contaminated food. Disturbed body physiology, histopathologi- cal alterations in tissues, DNA damage, reproductive failure, the early death of sensitive fish species and a decrease in fish pop- ulations from exposure to trace elements have been reported Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues * Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman Mahmud.rahman@newcastle.edu.au * Ravi Naidu Ravi.naidu@newcastle.edu.au 1 Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), Faculty of Science, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia 2 Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC-CARE), ATC Building, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia 3 Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan 4 ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha 753006, India 5 ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata 700120, India 6 Rho Environmetrics, Highgate, SA 5063, Australia Environmental Science and Pollution Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08600-y