Mineral element contents in commercially valuable fish species in Spain Rivas, A. Peña-Rivas, Luis Ortega Bernaldo De Quirós, Eduardo López-Martínez, Concepción Olea Serrano, Fátima Lorenzo Tovar, María Luisa Mineral element Fish species Spain Mediterranean The aim of this study was to measure selected metal concentrations in Trachurus trachurus, Trachurus picturatus, and Trachurus mediterraneus, which are widely consumed in Spain. Principal component analysis suggested that the variable Cr was the main responsible variable for the identification of T. trachurus, the variables As and Sn for T. mediterraneus, and the rest of variables for T. picturatus. This well-defined discrimination between fish species provided by mineral element allows us to distinguish them on the basis of their metal content. Based on the samples collected, and recognizing the inferential limitation of the sample size of this study, the metal concentrations found are below the proposed limit values for human consumption. However, it should be taken into consideration that there are other dietary sources of these metals. In conclusion, metal contents in the fish species analyzed are acceptable for human consumption from a nutritional and toxicity point of view. 2014-05-30T06:55:09Z 2014-05-30T06:55:09Z 2014 journal article Rivas, A.; et al. Mineral element contents in commercially valuable fish species in Spain. Scientific World Journal, 2014: 949364 (2014). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/32036] 1537-744X http://hdl.handle.net/10481/32036 10.1155/2014/949364 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ open access Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License Hindawi Publishing Corporation