Tuna is one of the most frequently consumed fish and, as a predator, can biomagnify pollutants. Metal and other elements pollution is an important worldwide concern. Based on these considerations, the aim of this work was to investigate the occurrence of As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Hg and Pb in tuna coming from different FAO areas to evaluate human exposure. The analysis was performed on muscle tissues through a quadrupole inductively coupled mass spectrometry. One hundred thirty-one samples were analysed. One red tuna from the Adriatic Sea and 11 yellow tunas exceeded Pb maximum levels (MLs) with a concentration ranging 0.31-0.86 mg kg-1; three red tunas from different Mediterranean sub-areas exceeded Hg MLs, with a concentration range 1.19 to 1.80 mg kg-1. All the Hazard Indexes (HIs) were lower than one, indicating that only a negligible health hazard could derive from the ingestion of tuna, for both average and high consumers. The risk of carcinogenicity from Cr is still under debate at the concentrations detectable in food.
Keywords: Tuna; arsenic; hazard index; metals; risk.