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Concentrations, bioaccumulation, and health risk assessments of heavy metals in fishes from Nigeria’s freshwater: a general overview

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Abstract

Heavy metals (HMs) have attracted global attention due to their toxicity, persistence, and accumulation in aquatic fish in the polluted water environment. The consumption of these fishes exposed humans to a higher risk of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks. In this study, we provided a critical overview of the potential sources and concentration of HMs in Nigeria’s freshwater. Furthermore, we reported their pollution level in widely eaten fish species in the country. Our findings show that effluent from anthropogenic and industrial activities is one of the major sources HMs in the country. The mean concentration of Zn (9.02 mg/L), As (7.25 mg/L), Cu (4.35 mg/L), Fe (1.77 mg/L), and Pb (1.46 mg/L) in Nigeria’s freshwaters were found to be high than Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality permissible limit. This study demonstrated considerable health risks associated HMs via dietary consumption of different fishes from polluted waters. Therefore, we recommended an urgent need for effective management HMs in water bodies in order to protect the lives of people living in the country.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Kayode Hassan Lasisi of Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, P.R. China, who carefully read the manuscript and provided excellent suggestions to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, 200284, Nigeria

    Oluwaseyi Aderemi Ajala

  2. Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima, 739-8527, Japan

    Oluwaseyi Aderemi Ajala

  3. Department of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering Technology, Kwara State Polytechnic, PMB 1375, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

    Margret Racheal Oke

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, PMB 704, Akure, 340110, Nigeria

    Temitope Fausat Ajibade & Fidelis Odedishemi Ajibade

  5. Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China

    Temitope Fausat Ajibade

  6. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Temitope Fausat Ajibade & Fidelis Odedishemi Ajibade

  7. Organization of African Academic Doctors, Off Kamiti Road, P.O. Box 25305-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    Temitope Fausat Ajibade & Fidelis Odedishemi Ajibade

  8. Key Lab of Environmental Biotechnology, Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, People’s Republic of China

    Fidelis Odedishemi Ajibade

  9. Department of Agricultural Civil Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41566, Korea

    Bashir Adelodun

  10. Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Ilorin, PMB 1515, Ilorin, 240103, Nigeria

    Bashir Adelodun

  11. Department of Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025, Awka, Nigeria

    Joshua O. Ighalo

  12. Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA

    Joshua O. Ighalo

  13. Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Microbiology Unit, Kwara State University, 23431, PMB 1530, Malete, Kwara State, Nigeria

    Margaret Opeyemi Ajala

  14. Agro-ecology and Pollution Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to be University), Haridwar, Uttarakhand, 249404, India

    Pankaj Kumar

  15. Department of Chemistry, Arba Minch University, 1000, Arba Minch, Ethiopia

    Hailu Demissie

  16. Department of Environmental Management, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria

    Adamu Yunusa Ugya

  17. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, People’s Republic of China

    Ishaq Dimeji Sulaymon

  18. Department of Civil and Environmental, Universidad de la Costa, Calle 58 #55-66, 080002, Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia

    Luis F. O. Silva

Authors
  1. Oluwaseyi Aderemi Ajala
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  2. Margret Racheal Oke
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  3. Temitope Fausat Ajibade
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  12. Luis F. O. Silva
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Contributions

OAA: conceptualization, data curation, investigation, methodology, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. MRO: investigation, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—reviewing and editing. TFA: investigation, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—reviewing and editing. FOA: conceptualization, resources, supervision, validation, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. BA: investigation, visualization, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—reviewing and editing. JOI: data curation, formal analysis, writing—reviewing and editing. MOA: investigation, writing—reviewing and editing. PK: investigation, data curation, writing—reviewing and editing. HD: investigation, writing—reviewing and editing. AYU: investigation, writing—reviewing and editing. IDS: investigation, writing—reviewing and editing. LFOS: resources, investigation, visualization, supervision, writing—reviewing and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fidelis Odedishemi Ajibade.

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Ajala, O.A., Oke, M.R., Ajibade, T.F. et al. Concentrations, bioaccumulation, and health risk assessments of heavy metals in fishes from Nigeria’s freshwater: a general overview. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 82660–82680 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23390-1

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