© by PSP Volume 25 – No. 6/2016, pages 1972-1977 Fresenius Environmental Bulletin 1972 DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METAL LEVELS IN DIFFERENT TISSUES OF TENCH (TINCA TINCA L., 1758) FROM SIDDIKLI KUCUKBOGAZ DAM LAKE (KIRSEHIR), TURKEY Mahmut Yilmaz 1 , Cigdem Teber 1 , Tamer Akkan 2 , Cigdem Er 3 , Ergin Kariptas 4 , Harun Ciftci 5 1 Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Science and Art, Department of Biology, Kirsehir/ Turkey 2 Giresun University, Faculty of Science and Art, Department of Biology, Giresun/Turkey 3 Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Science and Art, Department of Chemistry, Kirsehir/ Turkey 4 Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Kirsehir/ Turkey 5 Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Kirsehir/ Turkey ABSTRACT Heavy metal concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr and Al in muscle, liver, skin, intestine and gill of tench (Tinca tinca L., 1758) collected from Siddikli Kucukbogaz Dam Lake, in Turkey, were determined by High Resolution Continuum Source Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (HR CS- FAAS) between March 2012 and February 2013. The heavy metals were accumulated at varying levels in different tissues of tench. The concentration of heavy metals in different tissues of fishes varied for Cu: 0.067-3.793, Fe: 0.460-13.22, Mn: 0.041-1.366, Zn: 0.135-3.783, Cr: nd-1.177 and Al: 0.232-2.07 μg g -1 dry weight. Heavy metal levels in tissues were compared with national and international permissible limits. The values of all metals in muscles of the analyzed fish were found to be below the established limit values. Seasonal changes in metal (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr and Al) concentration were observed in the tissues of tench, but these variations may not influence consumption advisories. Consequently, this study suggests that various metals were present in the fish muscle tissues at different levels, but these were within the maximum residual levels permitted by Turkish standards and the WHO/FAO; thus, the fish from these areas are generally safe for human consumption KEYWORDS: Tinca tinca, heavy metal, fish, tissues, Kirsehir INTRODUCTION Water pollution with heavy metals has become a serious health concern during recent years. The aquatic environment is more susceptible to the harmful effects of heavy metal pollution because aquatic organisms are in close and extended contact with the soluble metals. Fish can be considered as one of the most significant indicators in aquatic ecosystems for the impact of metal pollution. Fishes are often at the top of aquatic food chain in water ecosystems and they may accumulate toxic trace metals in polluted waters (Mansour and Sidky, 2002; Zhuang et al. 2013; Kayhan et al. 2015). It is well known that fish, as a regular constituent of the human diet, can represent a dangerous source of certain heavy metals (Özparlak et al. 2012). In recent years, concentrations of heavy metal were found to have increased in lake ecosystems due to release of industrial and agricultural wastes and as a result, aquatic organisms are exposed to elevated levels of these metals (Kalay and Canil 2000; Sankar et al. 2006; Said et al. 2014). The amount of heavy metals in lake water should be within the limited values; otherwise, the accumulation of heavy metals would cause many problems to living organisms and agricultural areas. Especially high levels of heavy metals are very dangerous to freshwater ecosystems as for human if the water is being used as drinking or irrigation water. The aquatic organisms exposed to heavy metals from runoff water tend to accumulate these metals in their body, fishes being more commonly affected than other species (Güven et al. 1999; Henry et al. 2004; Mutlu et al. 2012; Miloskovic et al. 2014). The most important heavy metals from the point of view of water pollution are Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Hg, Ni and Cr. Some of these metals (e.g. Cu, Ni, Cr and Zn) are essential trace metals to living organisms, but become toxic at higher concentrations. The aim of the present study is to determine the concentrations of some heavy metals in different tissues of Tinca tinca by using High Resolution Continuum Source Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (HR CS-FAAS) from different locations of Siddikli Kucukbogaz Dam Lake. It is expected that the results of this research will assist in acquiring information about the level of toxic metals in this area.