Heavy metals contamination in sea cucumber (Phylloporus spiculatus) at Kenjeran, Surabaya, Indonesia: Cracker product of small-medium sized enterprise

Cracker of Sea Cucumber (Phylloporus spiculatus) is a favourite and popular snack from Surabaya. It is produced by small-medium sized enterprise (Usaha Kecil Menengah/UKM) at Kenjeran, Surabaya. Since it is produced by UKM, usually it has a P-IRT (Produk-Industri Rumah Tangga) code for its production and distribution. Therefore, as it is consumed, a requirement should be fulfilled either according to National Agency of Drug and Food Control (Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan/BPOM) or World Health Organization (WHO) especially in terms of the heavy metals content. Regulation of BPOM No. 5/2018, strictly regulates a maximum allowable limit of heavy metals of processes foods from Crustacea and Echinodermata. They are 0.25, 0.20, and 0.10 mg/kg, respectively for As, Pb, Hg, and Cd. While Cr and Cu are only permitted at maximum 0.5 ppm and 10 mg/day, respectively, by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). Samples of crackers of Sea Cucumber were collected from 12 fishermen and Sea Cucumber processors at Kenjeran market, Surabaya. They were randomly chosen and analyzed by ICPS. A validation method of ICPS analysis was previously established for quantitative analysis of heavy metals, including selectivity, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limits of quantitation as well as accuracy, and precision. It was found that none of samples containing Cd. However, other heavy metals such as Pb, Cu, and Cr were detected exceeding the maximum allowable limit. They were 252.88 mg/kg, 34.15 mg/kg, and 1.6 ppm, respectively, for Pb, Cu, and Cr. A counselling to the UKM producer of crackers of Sea Cucumber need to be conducted, informing a good food processing practice. A simultaneous analysis of sea water and other sea biota at Kenjeran Area is also necessary in order to find out whether the contamination comes from the pollution of the sea water or form the Sea Cucumber itself.