High concentration of Cadmium (Cd) heavy metal content in shellfish will affect to public health through food chain. The health effect includes acute and chronic poisoning, and carcinogenic effect. In order to minimize the health effect, it should be efforted to reduce Cd heavy metal content in shellfish by soaking in weak acid solution as chelating agent such as acetic acid solution. Therefore the aim of this study was to measure effectivity of acetic acid solution in reducing Cd heavy metal content in certain shellfish namely ‘Kerang Bulu’ or Anadara indica.
This study was an experimental study in laboratory, which was designed as pre-test and post-test with control group design. Twenty samples of ‘Kerang Bulu’ from Kenjeran beach of Surabaya were included in this study. Each ten sample was divided into three parts and measured Cd heavy metal content before and after treatment by soaking in acetic acid solution 25 % and 12,5 % for 1 and 2 hours.
Average concentration of Cd heavy metal content in ‘Kerang Bulu’ was 2,47 ± 0,79 ppm. It was extreemely higher compared to the threshold limit value recommeded by ILO/WHO i.e. 0.1 ppm. Soaking in acetic acid solution 25 % for 1 and 2 hours significantly reduced (paired samples t test, p <0 strong="">