Heavy Metals Concentration in Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) from the Moroccan Mediterranean Coast and Potential Human Health Risk Assessment

Table 3

Mean ± standard deviation of cadmium, mercury, lead, and arsenic concentrations in the gill of Sardina pilchardus from the Mediterranean coast of Morocco.

Metals (µg g^−1)	Site	Winter	Spring	Summer	Autumn
Cadmium	Beni-Ensar	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	0.313^b ± 0.004	<0.001 ± 0.000
	Ras el Ma	0.263^b ± 0.010	<0.001 ± 0.000	0.312^c ± 0.015	<0.001 ± 0.000
	El-Houceima	0.274^b ± 0.010	0.310^c ± 0.015	0.226^a ± 0.015	0.309^c ± 0.015
Mercury	Beni-Ensar	0.013^b ± 0.001	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000
	Ras el Ma	0.016^c ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	0.011^b ± 0.015
	El-Houceima	0.013^b ± 0.001	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000
Lead	Beni-Ensar	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000
	Ras el Ma	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000
	El-Houceima	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000	<0.001 ± 0.000
Arsenic	Beni-Ensar	1.086^b ± 0.010	0.807^a ± 0.011	1.62^d ± 0.015	1.336^c ± 0.010
	Ras el Ma	2.52^d ± 0.010	1.037^a ± 0.001	1.62^c ± 0.001	1.34^b ± 0.010
	El-Houceima	1.408^c ± 0.008	0.959^a ± 0.009	1.129^b ± 0.009	1.887^d ± 0.009

The results are expressed in μg·g⁻¹ wet weight; significant differences () between means are shown with different lowercase letters (a–d).