Incidence of Heavy Metals (Pb, Cu, Zn) in Fish Species in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State

Ebele Nwamaka Aniagor^{1, 2,} , Thomas Muoemena Okonkwo¹, Chinwe Blessing Nweze¹ and Ifeoma Elizabeth Mbaeyi-Nwaoha¹

¹Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu, Nigeria

²Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria

Cite this paper:
Ebele Nwamaka Aniagor, Thomas Muoemena Okonkwo, Chinwe Blessing Nweze and Ifeoma Elizabeth Mbaeyi-Nwaoha. Incidence of Heavy Metals (Pb, Cu, Zn) in Fish Species in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. American Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2019; 7(4):133-136. doi: 10.12691/ajfst-7-4-5

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the concentration of lead, copper and zinc on the gills, viscera and muscle parts of three fish species- Clarias gariepinus, Channa obscura, and Tilapia zilli from Uwana river in Afikpo in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Lead concentrations did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) among the fish species and were 0.025 ± 0.045 ppm in C. gariepinus, 0.024 ± 0.041 ppm in C. obscura and 0.036 ± 0.056 ppm in T. zilli. However copper was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in T. zilli 0.067 ± 0.116 ppm compared to C. gariepinus 0.033 ± 0.038 ppm and C. obscura 0.030 ± 0.041 ppm. Zinc concentrations were similar (p > 0.05) in the 3 fish species of C. gariepinus (0.454 ± 0.256 ppm), C. obscura (0.518 ± 0.246 ppm), and T. zilli (0.514 ± 0.279 ppm). Gills (0.026 ± 0.044 ppm), Viscera (0.029 ± 0.051 ppm) and Muscle (0.030 ± 0.048 ppm) did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) in lead content but viscera contained more copper (0.084 ± 0.114 ppm) compared to the gills (0.035 ± 0.039 ppm) and muscle (0.011 ± 0.013 ppm). Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in the zinc contents of the body parts as Gills contained more zinc (0.590 ± 0.209 ppm) compared to viscera (0.0567 ± 0.291 ppm) and muscle (0.329 ± 0.188 ppm). In all cases, the heavy metal concentrations in the fish species were lower than the maximum limit set by FAO/WHO/ FEPA.

Keywords:
gills muscle viscera lead copper zinc

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