Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 28 No 1 (2024): 106 - 115

SIZE AND ORGAN-SPECIFIC HEAVY METAL ACCUMULATION PATTERNS IN LONGTAIL TUNA (Thunnus tonggol) FROM TERENGGANU

(Saiz dan Organ-Khusus Corak Pengumpulan Logam Berat dalam Ikan Aya Hitam

(Thunnus tonggol) dari Terengganu)

Norhazirah Abd Aziz¹, Adiana Ghazali^1,2, Sim Siong Fong³, Nurul Izzah Ahmad⁴, and Ong Meng Chuan^1,2,5*

¹Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

²Ocean Pollution and Ecotoxicology (OPEC) Research Group, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

³Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

⁴Environmental Health Research Centre (EHRC), Institute for Medical Research, Setia Alam, Malaysia

⁵Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

^*Corresponding author: ong@umt.edu.my

Received: 15 September 2023; Accepted: 10 December 2023; Published: 28 February 2024

Abstract

Longtail tuna, Thunnus tonggol, belongs to the Scrombidae family and is commonly served in special Terengganu delicacies, such as in Nasi Dagang gravy. Primarily, the predator fish is found in shallow waters. The Terengganu state is located on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, where the oil and gas industry is a primary economic bolster. The rapid urbanisation, large-scale developments, and tourist attraction in the area might contribute to the heavy metal pollution in Terengganu waters. The present study was conducted to determine the concentration of six heavy metals, such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg) in longtail tuna muscle, gills, liver, and stomach, by employing inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The highest concentration of Cu, Cd, and Pb was recorded in the liver. The muscle samples revealed the highest As and Hg concentrations, while the gills documented the maximum Zn concentration. The results also revealed that the heavy metals possessed a significant positive relationship with the tuna size (p <0.05). For instance, Hg demonstrated a strong positive association with fish size, recording a 0.577 r-value. Conversely, the longtail tuna samples indicated apparent growth dilution effects for Cu and Pb, proved by the negative correlations between their concentrations and the fish length. This study successfully outlined comprehensive approaches to better understand the controlling factors, including fish size and targeted organs in determining the concentration of heavy metals in longtail tuna.

Keywords: heavy metal, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, pollution, South China Sea, Thunnus tonggol

Abstrak

Ikan Aya hitam, Thunnus tonggol, dikategorikan dalam keluarga Scrombidae dan lazimnya dihidangkan sebagai hidangan istimewa di Terengganu seperti dalam kuah Nasi Dagang. Lazimnya, spesis pemangsa ini dijumpai di kawasan air cetek. Terengganu terletak di Pantai Timur Semenanjung Malaysia yang mana industri minyak dan gas merupakan penyumbang ekonomi utama. Pembandaran yang pesat, pembangunan berskala besar, dan tarikan pelancongan di negeri tersebut mungkin menjadi antara punca pencemaran logam berat dalam perairan Terengganu. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menentukan kepekatan enam logam berat; kuprum (Cu), zink (Zn), kadmium (Cd), plumbum (Pb), arsenik (As) dan merkuri (Hg) di dalam isi, insang, hati, dan perut ikan Aya hitam menggunakan ICP-MS. Keputusan menujukkan bahawa kepekatan Cu, Cd dan Pb paling tinggi dicatatkan di dalam hati. Isi ikan merekodkan kepekatan As dan Hg paling tinggi, manakala insang mencatatkan kepekatan Zn yang paling tinggi. Keputusan kajian ini juga menunjukkan bahawa semua logam berat mempunyai hubungan positif yang ketara dengan saiz ikan Aya hitam (p <0.05). Contohnya, Hg mempunyai hubungan positif yang kukuh dengan saiz ikan dengan nilai r ialah 0.577. Sebaliknya, ikan Aya hitam menunjukkan kesan pencairan pertumbuhan untuk Cu dan Pb dengan hubungan negatif antara kepekatan logam berat dengan saiz ikan. Kajian ini telah Berjaya menunjukkan pendekatan menyeluruh dan kefahaman yang lebih mendalam terhadap faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi kepekatan logam berat di dalam ikan Aya hitam, termasukalah saiz ikan dan organ sasaran.

Kata kunci: logam berat, spektroskopi jisim- plasma gadingan aruhan, pencemaran, laut China Selatan, Thunnus tonggol

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