Metal accumulation in the tissues of grass carps (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) from fresh water around a copper mine in Southeast China

Abstract

Mining effluents are the main source of metals in the surrounding aquatic environment. The mining district of Purple Mountain has a history of copper mining for more than 30 years, but there is limited investigation of metal bioaccumulation in the aquatic creatures from the Tingjiang river catchment affected by the mining activities. In this study, we collected grass carps (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) from four sites, and analyzed the accumulation of chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) in ten tissues (scale, skin, muscle, gill, liver, kidney, fish maw, heart, stomach, and intestine) of the fish samples. Among all tissue samples, the highest concentrations (micrograms per gram wet weight) of Ni (0.263), Cu (69.2), Zn (84.0), As (0.259), Cd (0.640), Hg (0.051), and Pb (0.534) were noted in the liver, gill, and kidney tissues, whereas the highest concentrations of Cr (0.356) and Mn (62.7) were detected in the skin and intestine, respectively. These results gave a better understanding of the variability of metals distribution in different fish tissues. In comparison with the sample sites, metals (especially Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Pb) in liver, gill, kidney, stomach, and intestine showed more inter-site differences than other tissues. The inter-site differences also revealed that site 1 and 2 increased fish uptake of Cu, Zn, Ni, and Pb, which may indicate that the copper mine and urban effluents contributed to high levels of these metals in aquatic environments in site 1 and 2. A potential food safety issue may emerge depending on the mining activities in this region because some metals in a few tissue samples exceeded the guideline values for human consumption of fish.

Accumulation of metals in three fish species from the Yaounde Municipal Lake in Cameroon

“…The higher concentrations were found in the gills, while the lowest concentrations of detected metals were in the muscles. Similar results were also reported for a number of other fish species (Adhikari et al 2009;Malik et al 2010;Alhas et al 2009;Liu et al 2012). As expected, the concentration of the elements was higher in the gills than in the muscles since these parts are not directly in contact with pollutants.…”

A nested case-control study indicating heavy metal residues in meconium associate with maternal gestational diabetes mellitus risk

“…Compared to other reports, the extent of exposure may be area specific (Table 4), e.g., Pb, Hg and Cd exposure in inhabitants from heavily contaminated regions and/or industrialized metropolis [34-36] is noticeably higher than those from remote and/or rural areas [14,37,38]. Selected metals detected in our studied subjects may have similar sources, which could be mainly related to contaminated dietary items [39-41] and dust ingestion [42], as a consequence of rapid industrialization and increasing environmental pollution throughout China. Although no mother reported smoking during pregnancy, the second-hand cigarette smoking is very common in China.…”

Bioaccumulation and regional distribution of trace metals in fish of the Tibetan Plateau

“…Fish, being in the higher trophic level in aquatic ecosystems, can be used as a biomonitor of POPs and heavy metal contamination (Hofer et al 2001;van der Oost et al 2003;Malik et al 2011;Liu et al 2012). In Tibetan lakes, the food chain is generally short and simple compared with lowland aquatic ecosystems.…”