Microplastics (MPs) and heavy metals have become a real concern in the marine biota. In this study, we investigated the concentration of heavy metals and MPs in Atropus atropos caught from two marine locations in Bushehr, northwest of the Persian Gulf. For this, a total of 20 fish with an average weight of 254 ± 35.34 g were collected from two sampling sites in the coast of Bushehr, north of Persian Gulf. The concentration of heavy metals (Pb, Hg, Cd, and As) and MPs were investigated in the muscle and gastrointestinal tract of fish, respectively. Results showed concentration of heavy metals as 0.96–1.56, 0.35–0.66, 0.019–0.052, and 13.45–18.56 µg/g for Pb, Hg, Cd, and As, respectively. Hazard index (HI) for adults and children was <1, the highest HI values were calculated for adults (0.026) and children (0.2) in Bushehr. Cancer risk (CR) levels for As were unacceptable (above 10-4) at both sites. The female had the largest MPs abundance (average 1.5 items/g) and males had the lowest abundance of MPs (average 0.3 items/g). Therefore, the presence of microplastic particles and heavy metals in the edible tissue of aquatic species in the Persian Gulf causes many problems in the health of fish and consumers, so efforts should be made to reduce the risk of MPs and heavy metals to the marine biota by considering effective environmental programs.
