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Bioaccumulation and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal (loid)s in Different Fish Species of Hainan Island, China

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Abstract

Fish contamination with heavy metal (loid)s could be a serious threat to human health. In this study, the concentrations of twelve heavy metal (loid)s in the liver, kidney, gills, muscles, skin and bones were determined in five different fishes, collected from the Hainan Island, China. Results indicated that the average concentrations of Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr, Mn, Se, Ni, As, Hg, Cd, Pb and Co in the fish tissues were 75.56, 6.935, 4.76, 4.05, 3.298, 0.981, 0.732, 0.643, 0.585, 0.263, 0.232, and 0.08 mg/kg respectively. Therefore, the hierarchical order of the metal concentrations in fishes observed was Fe > Cu > Zn > Cr > Mn > Se > Ni > As > Hg > Cd > Pb > Co. Findings of our study revealed that the average maximum concentrations of biologically essential heavy metals were found higher than those of biologically non-essential heavy metals. An average maximum Fe content was present in the kidneys of all fish, followed by liver, then gills. However, skin, muscles and bones which are not metabolically active sites for bioaccumulation contained low concentration. Significant positive and negative correlations were observed among the metal pairs. The THQ values ​​for Cr, Cd, and As above 1 indicated a non-carcinogenic risk to human health. Integration of 12 heavy metal concentrations followed the order: metals in benthic fish > metals in demersal fish > metals in pelagic fish. Regular monitoring of the water and fish for heavy metals (loid)s should be done regularly to protect aquatic ecosystem and human health through targeted response measures.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Key Research and Development Project of Hainan Province (grant number ZDYF2018122) and Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (422RC601).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Haikou, People’s Republic of China

    Tauseef Ahmad, Sumaira Gul, Muhammad Amjad Khan & Xiaoping Diao

  2. College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, People’s Republic of China

    Tauseef Ahmad, Muhammad Amjad Khan & Xiaoping Diao

  3. College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, People’s Republic of China

    Sumaira Gul

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Muhammad Amjad Khan

  5. Department of Zoology, University of Malakand, KPK, Chakdara, 18800, Pakistan

    Ashfaq Ahmad

  6. Islamia College University, Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan

    Ashfaq Ahmad

  7. School of Plant Protection, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, People’s Republic of China

    Shakil Ahmad

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  1. Tauseef Ahmad
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Ahmad, T., Gul, S., Khan, M.A. et al. Bioaccumulation and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal (loid)s in Different Fish Species of Hainan Island, China. Thalassas 38, 1395–1406 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-022-00474-w

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