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Tissue specific metal characterization of selected fish species in Pakistan

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Abstract

Concentration of various metals, i.e., zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), and silver (Ag), was evaluated in five indigenous fish species (namely, silver carp, common carp, mahseer, thela fish, and rainbow trout), by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. It is proved from this study that, overall, mahseer and rainbow trout had high amount of zinc, whereas thela fish and silver carp had high concentration of copper, chromium, silver, nickel, and lead, while common carp had highest amount of iron contents. Furthermore, a tissue-specific discrimination among various fish species was observed, where higher metal concentrations were noticed in fish liver, with decreasing concentration in other organs like skin, gills, and finally the least contents in fish muscle. Multivariate data analysis showed not only a variation in heavy metals among the tissues but also discrimination among the selected fish species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the technical support of Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar, and financial support of Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, for this work. Our acknowledgement is extended for the efforts of Mr. Murad Ali (Department of Agriculture, University of Haripur) for providing rainbow trout fish samples and to Dr. Justin T Fischedick for revision of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Food Science and Technology, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Haripur, Haripur, Pakistan

    Mukhtiar Ahmed, Muhammad Liaquat & Muhammad Jahangir

  2. Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Tarnab, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Taufiq Ahmad

  3. Department of Food Technology, PMAS University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

    Kashif Sarfraz Abbasi

  4. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt

    Ibrahim Bayoumi Abdel Farid

  5. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Al-Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, KSA

    Ibrahim Bayoumi Abdel Farid

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  1. Mukhtiar Ahmed
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  2. Taufiq Ahmad
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  3. Muhammad Liaquat
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  4. Kashif Sarfraz Abbasi
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  5. Ibrahim Bayoumi Abdel Farid
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  6. Muhammad Jahangir
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Correspondence to Muhammad Jahangir.

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Ahmed, M., Ahmad, T., Liaquat, M. et al. Tissue specific metal characterization of selected fish species in Pakistan. Environ Monit Assess 188, 212 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5214-6

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