Abstract: To investigate the concentrations of heavy metals in edible fish, six heavy metals including zinc（Zn）,copper（Cu）, cadmium（Cd）, iron （Fe）, chromium （Cr）, manganese （Mn） in fish collected from reservoirs from Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Inner Mongolia and Jilin provinces in July to September, 2015, were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrometry （FAAS） and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry（GFAA）. The results showed that the concentrations of heavy metal in fish samples were as order of Cr>Zn>Cu>Cd. The contents of Zn and Cr in all fish samples were higher than the standard limits, whereas the contents of Cu and Cd were lower than the standard limits. The highest concentrations of heavy metals were found in yellow croaker （Larimichthys） at 707.1 mg/kg, however, the lowest concentrations of heavy metals were found in carp （Cyprinus carpio）. The higher concentrations of heavy metals were found in carnivorous fish than omnivore fish. The human health risk assessment showed that non-carcinogenic health risks of Zn, Cu, Mn were found in the study area, and the carcinogenic risks of Cr in fish were greater than the relevant standard limits.

Key words: edible fish, heavy metals, health risk assessment