Abstract

The level of heavy metals in crabs and prawns was investigated using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The mean concentration of copper in the crab was 1.56±0.87 µg/g; the mean concentration of zinc in the crab was also 0.64±1.96 ܖg/g. Chromium had the highest mean concentration of 8.936±35.4 µg/g while cadmium had the lowest mean of 1.66±1.82 µg/g lead was not detected. The mean concentration of heavy metals in prawn samples were follows: copper: 1.04±0.6 µg/g, cadmium: 0.07±0.08 µg/g, chromium: 4.06±7.00 µg/g and Zn 0.64±0.45 µg/g. Lead was not detected in prawn. The mean concentration of copper, cadmium and zinc in prawn was observed to be within the range NAFDAC standard for water and aquatic foods while crabs have higher mean concentration of heavy metals with the exception of zinc and copper are within the limit.