REVIEW ARTICLE: HUMAN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT IN RELATION TO HEAVY METALS INTAKE DUE TO CONSUMPTION OF CLAM SPECIES FOUND FROM MALAYSIA WATERS

Rabiu Mahmoud Musa¹*, Muhammad Sa’id Abubakar²_, Mubarak Usman Mahmoud³_,  Jamilu Ahmad Bello⁴

ABSTRACT

The current systematic review paper discusses the levels of the six important heavy metals concentrations in different clam species from various sites of Malaysian river coasts. The concentrations (𝜇g/g dry weight) of these heavy metals ranged around 0.18–8.51, 0.13–17.20, 2.17–7.80, 0.84–36.00, 24.13–368.00, and 177.82–1912.00 for Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn) and Ion (Fe) respectively. Human body requires some of heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, and Fe in small quantity, it was observed that the concentrations of heavy metals slightly depend on the different clam species but mostly depend on the habitat site/ locations. According to the Malaysian Food Regulation organization, about 30% and more than 50% of these sites are free from heavy metals’ contamination; pose by chemical elements as Cd and Pb respectively; which are very toxic to the human health conditions, for their presence may consequently lead to certain chronic health risks. Generally the clam species based on the other populations researched were safe for further human daily consumptions.

Keywords: Aquatic Environment, Clam Species, Environmental Pollution, Heavy metals, Health risk