Pollution Problem in River Kabul: Accumulation Estimates of Heavy Metals in Native Fish Species

Abstract

The contamination of aquatic systems with heavy metals is affecting the fish population and hence results in a decline of productivity rate. River Kabul is a transcountry river originating at Paghman province in Afghanistan and inters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and it is the major source of irrigation and more than 54 fish species have been reported in the river. Present study aimed at the estimation of heavy metals load in the fish living in River Kabul. Heavy metals including chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead were determined through atomic absorption spectrophotometer after tissue digestion by adopting standard procedures. Concentrations of these metals were recorded in muscles and liver of five native fish species, namely, Wallago attu, Aorichthys seenghala, Cyprinus carpio, Labeo dyocheilus, and Ompok bimaculatus. The concentrations of chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, and lead were higher in both of the tissues, whereas the concentration of cadmium was comparatively low. However, the concentration of metals was exceeding the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance of USA) limits. Hence, continuous fish consumption may create health problems for the consumers. The results of the present study are alarming and suggest implementing environmental laws and initiation of a biomonitoring program of the river.

Nutritional value and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in muscle tissues of five commercially important marine fish species from the Red Sea

“…Chromium is a vital chemical element that plays an important role in glucose, fat, and protein metabolism ( Mertz, 1993 ). The Cr values from this study were lower than those reported by Ahmad et al (2015) in fish species from the Kabul River, Pakistan (489–703 μg/) and higher than those recorded by Sankar et al (2006) in Calicut, India (0.47 μg/g); Raja et al (2009) in Parangipetti waters, India (0.65–0.92 μg/g); Yilmaz (2003) in Iskenderun Bay, Turkey (1.03–1.79 μg/g); Ahmed and Naim (2008) in the Gulf of Aquba, Red Sea (1.0–10.3 μg/g); Rahman et al (2012) in the Bangshi River, Bangladesh (0.47–2.07 mg/kg); Türkmen et al, 2005 in the northeast of Mediterranean Sea, Turkey (0.07–6.64 mg/kg); and Demirezen and Uruç (2006) in Kayseri, Turkey (8.44–9.51 μg/g). The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) set a maximum permissible Cr content of 12–13 mg/kg for fishes ( USFDA, 1993 ).…”

“…Nickel is an environmental factor that occurs at a very low level and can cause severe pulmonary health problems, such as lung cancer, fibrosis, emphysma, tumors and kidney diseases ( Forti et al, 2011 ). In this review, Nickel values in this study were lower than those reported by Ahmad et al (2015) (75–135 μg/g) in the Kabul River, Pakistan and higher than those reported by Turkmen et al (2005) in Iskenderun Bay, Turkey (0.11–12.9 μg/g); Tuzen (2003) in the Black Sea, Turkey (1.14–3.60 μg/g); Uluozlu et al (2007) in the Black and Aegean seas, Turkey (1.92–5.68 μg/g); and Leung et al (2014) in the Peral River Delta, China (0.44–9.75 μg/g). The Western Australian Food and Drug Regulations set the permissible level of Ni to 5.5 mg/kg wet weight ( Plaskett and Potter, 1979 ).…”

Heavy Metals in Garra gotyla , Cyprinus carpio and Cyprinion watsoni from the River Panjkora, District, Lower Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

“…Among these sites the last two are more important, as these are being used as dumping site since very long for the discharge of wastes from vegetable, crockery and general markets of Timergara, the major city of the district. The concentration of heavy metals in the present study is much lower than those conducted in other parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province [16][17][18]. It might be due to the higher anthropogenic activities resulting in dumping and input of heavy industrial effluents and pollutants, domestic sewages and agricultural run offs into those rivers.…”

“…On account of its economic worth and public health value, research regarding heavy metal contents in fish tissues has been carried out in different parts of the world as well as Pakistan [12][13][14][15]. Studies conducted on river Kabul revealed the presence of heavy metals in different fish species including Tor putitora, Ompok bimaculatus, Aorichthys seenghala, Cyprinus carpio, Labeo dyocheilus and Wallago attu in a higher concentration than the permissible limits [16][17][18]. Many recent studies reports the presence of heavy metals in various fish species from different parts of the country [19][20][21].…”

Environmental sustainability of grey water footprints in Peshawar Basin: Current and future reduced flow scenarios for Kabul River

“…Water quality of Kabul River has also been deteriorated due to lack of wastewater treatment facility. It receives about 1 m 3 /sec of industrial effluents directly without prior treatment [15][16][17][18][19] . Pakistan and Afghanistan both share water resources of Kabul River and any reduction in flow will have drastic impact on water quality of river.…”