Elsevier

Food Chemistry

Volume 134, Issue 4, 15 October 2012, Pages 1847-1854
Food Chemistry

Study on heavy metals levels and its risk assessment in some edible fishes from Bangshi River, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.03.099Get rights and content

Abstract

Concentrations of eight heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, Mn, and As) in the muscles of ten species of fish collected from Bangshi River at Savar in Bangladesh were measured in two different seasons. The concentrations of the studied heavy metals, except Pb in Corica soborna, were found to be below the safe limits suggested by various authorities and thus gave no indication of pollution. The present study also showed that, Zn was the most and Cd was the least accumulated metal in the studied fish muscles. ANOVA analysis clearly revealed that there was a significant variation (CI = 95%) of the heavy metal concentrations in different fish species in the Bangshi River. Significant positive correlations between the heavy metal concentrations in fish muscles were also observed in both seasons. From the human health point of view, this study showed that there was no possible health risk to consumers due to intake of studied fishes under the current consumption rate.

Highlights

► ANOVA analysis showed significant variation of the metal content in different fish species. ► Significant positive correlation was observed between the metal content in fishes. ► Findings of this study was compared with the reported results in literature around the world. ► Potential health risks assessment was conducted.

Introduction

Heavy metals are potentially accumulated in marine environments including water, sediments, and fish, and subsequently transferred to human beings through the food chain. The consumption of fish has increased in importance among the health conscious due to their high protein supply, low saturated fat and omega fatty acids content that are known to contribute to good health (Copat et al., 2012). However, heavy metals pollution in fish has become an important worldwide concern, not only because of the threat to fish, but also due to the health risks associated with fish consumption. For example, lead causes renal failure and liver damage (Lee et al., 2011, Luckey and Venugopal, 1977). Moreover, prolonged exposure to lead will result in coma, mental retardation and even death (Al-Busaidi et al., 2011). Cadmium injures the kidney and cause symptoms of chronic toxicity, including impaired kidney function, poor reproductive capacity, hypertension, tumours and hepatic dysfunction (Al-Busaidi et al., 2011; Luckey and Venugopal, 1977, Rahman and Islam, 2010). Some other metals (e.g. chromium, zinc, and copper) cause nephritis, anuria and extensive lesions in the kidney (Luckey and Venugopal, 1977, Rahman and Islam, 2009). Therefore, the problem of heavy metal contamination in fishes is increasing global attention.

The increased industrialization, urbanization, population growth and overall man’s greed to exploit Mother Nature has aggravated the pollution. Heavy metals discharged into the marine environment (Rahman, Molla, & Arafat, 2010) can damage marine species diversity as well as ecosystems, due to their toxicity, long persistence, and accumulative behavior (Ebrahimpour et al., 2011, Saha and Zaman, 2011), and finally assimilated by human consumers resulting in health risks. The concern is growing more and more serious globally especially in developing countries (Chen, Qian, Chen, & Li, 2011). Among the bioindicators of aquatic ecosystem, fishes are often deemed as the most suitable objects because they occupy high trophic level and are important food source of human population (Abdel-Baki, Dkhil, & Al-Quraishy, 2011). Metal content in the tissues and organs of fishes indicates the concentrations of metals in water and their accumulation in food chains (Pintaeva, Bazarsadueva, Radnaeva, Pertov, & Smirnova, 2011). Fishes are well-known for their ability to concentrate heavy metals in their muscles. Therefore, in this study we selected muscles as a primary site of metal uptake and since fishes are integral component of human diet, they need to carefully screened to ensure that unnecessary high level of heavy metals are not being transferred to human population via consumption of fish.

The objective of this study was to assess contamination status of eight heavy metals in the muscles of ten common fish species in Bangshi River, close to Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), Bangladesh. An assessment on human health risks due to consumption of those fishes has been conducted.

Section snippets

Sampling site

The 238 km long Bangshi River is an important river in central Bangladesh. It originates in Jamalpur and passes through Tangai, Ghazipur and Savar before flowing into Dhaleshwari River. In Savar it flows through densely populated town and agricultural fields that was used as a source of water in the past. Now it is used as a convenient means for disposing of untreated liquid wastes from Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ). Although pharmaceutical industries, poultry farms and a tannery have been

Heavy metal concentrations in fish muscles

Concentrations of eight heavy metals, Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, Mn, and As in muscle tissue of ten fish species from Bangshi River during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons were listed in Table 3. It revealed that the ranking order of mean concentrations of the heavy metals in the fish muscles were, Zn (168.97) > Mn (23.77) > Cu (22.80) > Pb (4.64) > As (3.55) > Ni (2.59) > Cr (1.12) > Cd (0.30) (mean; mg/kg dry wt.) respectively. Among the analyzed fish samples, Pb was detected in amount ranging from

Discussion

The concentrations of the heavy metals detected in fishes of this study were compared with the other reported values (see Table 4) as an effort to determine the degree of contamination in the study area. Reported results in the literatures showed that metal contents in the fish muscles varied widely depending on where and which species were caught (Table 4). The metal content in various fish species from Parangipettai (Lakshmanan, Kesavan, Vijayanand, Rajaram, & Rajagopal, 2009), Aegean and

Conclusion

In general, the data in this paper suggests that the heavy metal concentrations found in the fish muscles sampled from the Bangshi River, with the exception of Pb content in C. Soborna, were within the standard limits proposed by various agencies (ANHMRC, ANZFA, Western Australian Food and Drug Regulations etc.). It should be noted that the concentrations of Zn were found considerably higher among the eight heavy metals in the examined fish species. The differences in heavy metal concentrations

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the authority of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission for providing laboratory facilities to analyze fish samples using conventional technique. The authors also delighted to express their gratefulness and sincerest thanks to Professor Jasim Uddin Ahmad (Ex Vice Chancellor, JU), Department of Chemistry, Jahangirnagar University (JU), Savar, Dhaka for his valuable suggestions and cooperation to carry out this research.

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