Heavy metals concentration in native edible fish at upper Meghna River and its associated tributaries in Bangladesh: a prospective human health concern

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the concentration (mg kg −1 ) of selected heavy metals including chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) along with possible human health risk from 9 popular freshwater native edible fishes (Anabas testudineus, Channa punctatus, Gagata youssoufi, Heteropneustes fossilis, Mastacembelus armatus, Mystus tengara, Ompok pabda, Puntius ticto and Xenentodon cancila) in ranges at upper Meghna River and its associated tributaries, Bangladesh, during November 2018. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) was used to measure the average concentration of selected metals that followed the trends of Zn (1.42) > Cr (1.31) > Cu (0.92) > Pb (0.54) > Cd (0.51) > As (0.47) mg kg −1 . Although the mean total content of As (0.47 mg kg −1 ) was least quantities, G. youssoufi (0.87 mg kg −1 ) accumulated the maximum concentration. The results revealed that all the heavy metals were lower than the permissible limits stated by national (e.g., MOFL) and international (e.g., FAO, WHO, EU, USEPA) agencies except for Cr and Pb. Furthermore, the assessed heavy metals concentration at the selected areas was comparatively lower than its nearby urban and estuarine areas of the river. Estimated daily intake, target hazard quotient (THQ) and carcinogenic risk (CR) were analyzed to interpret the effect of health risk. The THQ values were < 1 which denoted no health risk to neither children nor adult. In addition, the CR value was ≤ 10 −4 for children, whereas the amount was always below 10 −4 for adult that denoted no major deleterious effects to the consumers. However, the prolonged exposure to heavy metals might cause risk to both ages especially to the younger individuals.

Heavy Metals in the Fish Tenualosa ilisha Hamilton, 1822 in the Padma–Meghna River Confluence: Potential Risks to Public Health

“…Pb concentration in different organs of bottom feeders Channa striatus (302.56-1243.23) [33] in the areas connected with a contaminated site far from our study site were 10 to 20 orders of magnitude higher than our pelagic feeder T. ilisha. However, Pb content in T. ilisha from the Bay of Bengal [31], different coastal waters of Bangladesh [32], and other native edible fishes from around our study site [6,28,34,35], India [36], Myanmar [44], Iraqi river [45], Shatt Al Arab river [46], and the Persian Gulf [48] was similar to the present findings following the limit national and international guidelines [73][74][75].…”

“…The Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) was analyzed as a fresh weight to measure the possible health threats due to humans' exposure to HMs and calculated with the following equation [6,51]:…”

“…As Cu and Zn are not carcinogenic and Cr is mutagenic, CPSo values were found for Cd (6.3) [65,66] and Pb (0.0085) value only [51,67]. The possibility of forming cancer for a consumer will be > 1 in 100,000 when CR values exceed 10 −5 [6,51].…”

“…In line with the recent increases in production, heavy metals (HMs) and metal-based pollutants in the aquatic environment have drawn major attention in the fishery industry [4]. A broad range of toxic HMs origins, such as anthropogenic activities like industrial, urban and residential, agricultural, catchment runoff, shipping, and mining [5,6], ultimately follow waterways to assimilate and bioaccumulate in fishes, generating health risks to humans [7]. The HMs pathway is reaching humans through the food chain, i.e., industry-topsoil-catchment-plankton-fishhuman.…”

“…However, these riparian ecosystems are being polluted by several sources (above mentioned) and consumer safety has become a major issue. Although several studies have been reported on HMs and possible health risks in Bangladesh in T. ilisha and other fishes [6,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32], none of the studies correlated the HMs concentrations concerning body size. HMs content in freshwater fishes (Channa striatus, Clupisoma garua, Glossogobius giuris and Heteropneustes fossilis) organs such as liver, gills, and muscles were determined in the Meghna River, Gazaria Upazila (near Dhaka city) [33] and the Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh, respectively [34].…”