Samples of some popular brands of canned Thunnus albacares; Clupeonella cultriventris caspia; Euthynnus affinis; and Thunnus tonggol in the Iranian market were analyzed for determination of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn and Ni after digestion with 10 ml of 1 N nitric acid by inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometer. The results showed that the concentrations of metals (µg/g wet weight) with an average of 2.66 for Cr, 0.92 for Cu, 54.68 for Fe, 0.33 for Mn and 0.22 for Ni were lower than the Maximum Permissible Limits (MPL) established by WHO. Also, The Health Risk Index (HRI) values were within the safe limits (< 1), and there is no potential health risk for adults and children via consumption of canned fish. Despite the fact that our canned fish samples does not significantly contribute to total body burden of analyzed metals, But due to the increased discharge of pollutants into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, and consider that various species of fish retain substantial amounts of heavy metals during their lifespan, the monitoring of heavy metals concentrations in food is important. Therefore, the study of heavy metal distribution on a temporal basis is recommended.
