Heavy metal (cadmium, lead, and chromium) contamination infarmed fish: a potential risk for consumers’ health

Abstract

To assess heavy metal loads in cultured fish, four farmed carp fish species were sampled from a fish farming cluster at the Head Qadirabad area. Samples were randomly collected from fish farms and a local fish market and analyzed for three nonessential heavy metals, cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb), at Fish Quality Control Labs Manawan, Lahore, Pakistan. All three tested metals were found in all samples of selected fish species. The highest accumulation among heavy metals in farmed carps was recorded for Pb (0.3316 ± 0.0143 µg g -1 ), followed by Cr (0.0488 ± 0.0063 µg g -1 ) and Cd (0.0094 ± 0.0011 µg g -1 ). Mean Pb concentrations found in Labeo rohita (0.3316 ± 0.0143 µg g -1 ) and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (0.3246 ± 0.0496 µg g -1 ), collected from the local market, were beyond the permissible limits of the WHO for fish (0.123 µg g -1 ), while the concentrations of Cr (0.0488 ± 0.0063 µg g -1 ) and Cd (0.0094±0.0011 µg g -1 ) were found to be below the WHO permissible limits (0.100 µg g -1 ). Cd was significantly higher in Labeo rohita when compared with other species, while among distribution points Cr was significantly higher in fishes sampled from the local fish market. The correlation matrix showed that concentrations of Cd and Pb were significantly and positively correlated with each other. This study concludes that farmed fish produced in the Head Qadirabad area along the Chenab River are not safe for human consumption due to the presence of Pb, beyond acceptable limits. Eating farmed fish from this area may pose health hazards for humans and thus can create an upsetting situation, not only for the consumers but for the producers as well.

Fish Parasites and Heavy Metals Relationship in Wild and Cultivated Fish as Potential Health Risk Assessment in Egypt

“…When compared to cultivated Nile Tilapia and lake fish, Nile Tilapia can absorb contaminants with long biological half-lives, such as, Cd, and Pb, throughout a long lifespan. These findings agree with Chatta et al (2016), who reported that the farmed Cirrhinus mrigala and Labeo rohita accumulated less Cd and Pb than the lake ones. Lake fish also had higher levels of nonessential heavy metals due to a longer lifetime and exposure, but they also had reduced levels of essential metals because they were not fed a commercial diet (Simukoko et al, 2022).…”

Land Use and Land Cover Changes in a Human-Wildlife Mediated Landscape of Save Valley Conservancy, South-Eastern Lowveld of Zimbabwe

“…The values for the Pd, Cr were lower as compared to the values evaluated by the Chatha et al (2016) who reported higher values for these metals and indicate the increasing concentration level of metals in the farmed fishes in Head Qadirabad area along the Chenab River and declare them not safe for human consumption due to the presence of Pb, beyond acceptable limits. Similarly the values of Pd in the trimmu and Balloki headworks were higher than that of allowable ranges thus, the fish in that water bodies were not fit for human consumption.…”

Elemental composition of Talang Queenfish (Scomberoides commersonnianus Lacépède, 1801) in relation to body size and condition factor from Pakistan

“…Permissible limit of Cadmium as recommended by the FAO (2011) as 0.05 as in present study within range. This implies Cd as not taken above as limit as by Ashraf and Nazeer (2010) and Chatta et al (2016). Accumulations of Pb in study found below than maximum permissible limit as (FAO, 1984) reported similar concentration of lead in Ctenopharyngodon idella as in the present study.…”