Heavy Metal Concentrations in Caspian Sea Fish: A Compiled Open-Access Dataset From Seven Published Studies (2011–2024)

This dataset compiles 93 verified concentration values for 12 heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn, V, Zn) across five commercially important Caspian Sea fish species (Chelon auratus, Chelon saliens, Acipenser persicus, Acipenser stellatus, Esox lucius), three families (Mugilidae, Acipenseridae, Esocidae), and 10 tissue types. Values were extracted from seven peer-reviewed open-access publications (2011–2024) at three verification levels: VERBATIM_TABLE (67%), FROM_TEXT (8%), and ABSTRACT (25%). Each observation is traceable to a specific DOI and table/section reference. The dataset includes 22 variables: paper_id, doi, pmc, verification, table_ref, species, family, tissue, tissue_category, edible, country, basin, location, year, n, trophic_level, method, metal, conc, sd, unit, and log_conc. All concentrations are standardized to µg/g wet weight.