**5. Conclusions**

Metal poisoning though can be diagnosed and treated, the best option however is to prevent poisoning. As metal consumption beyond certain threshold can be potentially life threatening as a result of their bio-toxic effects,

Canned fish brands used for this study can be certified as relatively safe for consumption haven detected concentrations lower than most maximum tolerance concentration set by many foods and fish regulatory bodies. Storage media did not significantly affect the fishes stored in the different media but for their brands, as mackerel stored in tomato sauce in three different brands showed a wide variation especially in one of the brands as compared to the others which were not significantly different. Sardine and skipjack both stored in Soybean oil were significantly different as sardine stored in the soybean oil had much higher percentage metal concentration compared to skipjack. Same brand of sardine stored in soybean oil and curry sauce respectively, were not significantly different from each other but both were significantly different from all the other brands.

The trend observed during this study also shows that these study metals concentration showed some level of variation as the storage period increased. These variations with time may be due to sales and storage temperatures to which these products are exposed to. Temperatures in Nigeria can be extremely high, and no deliberate attempt is made to adhere to manufacturer instructions on storage and keeping details by marketers, quality managers and regulatory bodies. Good management of the harvesting waters, production process and adequate hygienic sales outlet, with controlled atmosphere where possible for handling canned fish products must be advocated in Nigeria. Food regulatory bodies in Nigeria should ensure that good quality canned fish products are not only imported into Nigeria, but that the quality integrity of these imported products are kept at optimum level by monitoring possibly the chain line where products are likely to loss quality. Because of their storage and keeping conditions during sales and before consumption, so as to ensure the safety of unsuspecting consumers. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the metal levels in imported products distributed within the country at point of arrival and periodic evaluation of products in circulation and where possible other variables, will help sanitize the market and safe guild the health of her people.

*Heavy Metals – Recent Advances*
