Effects on heavy metal accumulation in freshwater fishes: species, tissues, and sizes

Abstract

Three fish species (Carassius auratus, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, and Squaliobarbus curriculus) were collected from Xiang River near Changsha City, Southern China. The concentrations of heavy metals including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in the muscle, gill, and liver of three species were determined by the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was introduced to determine the significant variations (p < 0.05) of heavy metals. Livers were found to accumulate Cd and Cu due to the metallothionein proteins. High levels of Mn and Pb in the gills indicated that the main uptake pathway of these heavy metals was from the water. The carnivorous species, P. fulvidraco, was found to accumulate the highest levels of toxic elements (As, Cd, and Pb), while relatively high concentrations of nutrient elements (Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) were accumulated in omnivorous species (C. auratus and S. curriculus). According to the results of Pearson's correlation analysis, there were few significant relationships at p < 0.01 level between the concentrations of the analyzed elements and the fish sizes. The results of risk assessment indicated that exposure to the toxic heavy metals from fish muscle consumption posed no non-carcinogenic health risk to local inhabitants.

Commercial African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Recirculating Aquaculture Systems: Assessment of Element and Energy Pathways with Special Focus on the Phosphorus Cycle

“…In combination with biogas production, liquid and solid effluent wastes from RAS have been added to the anaerobic digester for energy production, without information on the possible impact on the methanation process and a better use, such as plant fertilizer. Also considering the quality of the fish product, increasing levels of different elements in the process water finally may accumulate in the flesh of the fish [14] and affect its product quality.…”

Fish assemblage–environment relationships suggest differential trophic responses to heavy metal contamination

“…Research on the effects of heavy metals on fishes of varying trophic levels has largely been limited to studies of differences in bioaccumulation rates and have demonstrated mixed results. Some studies from other regions with different species assemblages have demonstrated that various heavy metals are consistently present at higher concentrations within the tissues of piscivorous fishes (including fishes of the families Characidae and Ictaluridae) in comparison to fishes occupying lower trophic levels (Has‐Schön et al., ; Jia, Wang, Qu, Wang, & Yang, ; Terra, Araujo, Calza, Lopes, & Teixeira, ). In contrast, studies that have investigated bioaccumulation rates among fishes within the BRC have found that some heavy metals, such as Pb, are typically higher in lower trophic level fishes in the family Catostomidae compared to centrarchids.…”

Polymer brushes on graphene oxide for efficient adsorption of heavy metal ions from water

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] To minimize the amount of toxic ions in the environment, various approaches have been explored to remove these toxic ions from industrial effluents or water resources, including chemical precipitation, [8][9][10] electrochemical treatments, [11][12][13] ion exchange, 14,15 adsorption, [16][17][18] and so forth. Most heavy metal ions are toxic and constitute a serious health threat for humans and other species when existing in water, even at very low concentrations.…”

“…Most heavy metal ions are toxic and constitute a serious health threat for humans and other species when existing in water, even at very low concentrations. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] To minimize the amount of toxic ions in the environment, various approaches have been explored to remove these toxic ions from industrial effluents or water resources, including chemical precipitation, [8][9][10] electrochemical treatments, [11][12][13] ion exchange, 14,15 adsorption, [16][17][18] and so forth. Among these approaches, adsorption is known to be most promising because of its convenience of operation, low cost, and availability of a diversity of adsorbent materials.…”