The study compares certain trace elements in the common carp fish meat traded in local Iraqi markets

Pollution by trace elements causes serious threats not only by their entry into the aquatic environment, but also by their entry into humans through food. Among the obvious metals that cause an impact on human health are lead and cadmium. In the current study, the concentration of both lead and cadmium in carp fish was measured. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) traded in the local markets in Iraq. The fish sample was collected in four forms: (frozen, caught from the shore, caught from taps, and taken from lakes), with three samples of each form. The results of the current study showed the presence of high concentrations of lead in all the fish studied, and its concentration average was 85.7 ppm, 83.884 ppm, 83.073 ppm, and 81.016 ppm for the trowel, frozen, river, and lake samples, respectively. This concentration exceeded the permissible limits for lead concentration set by the WHO and FAO, while the concentration average of cadmium was 0.372 ppm for the river sample, 0.352 ppm for the trowel, 0.351 ppm for the lake, and 0.326 ppm for the frozen sample. All of them fall within the normal permissible limits. The Spss system was used to analyze the results statistically, and its results showed that there were no significant differences between the four types of common carp studied and the concentrations of the studied elements at the probability level of P<0.05.