Evaluating the concentration of trace elements in fish in the river is crucial for assessing the potential risks to humans from eating fish. In this study, we collected 315 muscle samples of seven indigenous fish species Abbottina rivularis (Basilewsky, 1855), Cobitis taenia (Linnaeus, 1758), Hemiculter leucisculus (Basilewsky, 1855), Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Cantor, 1842), Oreochromis mossambicus (Günther, 1889), Rhinogobius cliffordpopei (Rutter, 1897), Rhinogobius giurinus (Nichols, 1925) from the upper reaches of the Pearl River Basin in July, August of 2017 to investigate the concentration of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg) and further evaluate their health risk to humans. Trace elements analysis revealed that the average concentration of Zn (9.56 ± 3.72 mg/Kg) was the highest, followed by Cr (1.67 ± 1.15 mg/Kg), Cu (0.47 ± 0.44 mg/Kg), Pb (0.78 ± 0.12 mg/Kg), Cd (0.06 ± 0.11 mg/Kg), As (0.19 ± 0.56 μg/Kg), and Hg (0.01 ± 0.03 μg/Kg). As the hazard quotient index is <
1, the THQ and TTHQ associated with fish consumption represent a negligible non-carcinogenic risk to the health of local consumers. Instead, Cr (cancer risk value: 2.72 × 10