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Bioaccumulation and Heavy Metal Contamination in Fish Species of the Dhaleswari River of Bangladesh and Related Human Health Implications

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Abstract

The release of a large quantity of heavy metals into the Dhaleswari River from the tannery, dyeing, and other industrial setups and their subsequent transfer to food chains through fish consumption have been an alarming issue in Bangladesh. To study the pollution level, a total of seven fish species, namely Heteropneustes fossillis, Channa punctata, Nandus nandus, Chanda nama, Anabas testudineus, Mystus gulio, and Colisa fasciata, were collected in winter from the Dhaleswari River and the total concentrations of Cr, Pb, Ni, and Zn in head and body tissues were analyzed separately. The concentrations of Cr, Pb, and Zn were found 300, 20, and 10 times higher, respectively, than the guideline value of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO), indicating possible health risks to humans. In most cases, bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) exceeded the highest limit, expressing that most of the species, especially C. nama, A. testudineus, and C. fasciata, were in the highly bioaccumulative state. The health risks associated with fish consumption were determined in terms of estimated daily intake (EDI), non-carcinogenic risks (THQ), and carcinogenic risk (TR) factors. The THQs for Cr and Pb crossed the maximum value of 1 in all the fish species except Pb in Mystus gulio, which might cause different non-carcinogenic diseases upon consumption of these fishes. In all the fish species, the carcinogenic risk factor for Cr exceeded the standard value (10−4), indicating chronic cancer risk to humans. Although the estimated daily intake (EDI) values did not cross the permissible limit, continuous consumption of contaminated fish from the target area may cause serious health complications. This study revealed that consumption of these fishes exposed people to a higher risk of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic consequences in terms of human health.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Bangladesh, for supporting this MS thesis research (National Science and Technology Fellowship: 2019-2020; Merit No.: 148). Sincere appreciation goes to the Chairman, Department of Soil, Water and Environment, the University of Dhaka, for providing research facilities in the Advanced Research Laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil, Water and Environment, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Md Wahiduzzaman, Md Mahfuz Islam & Zakia Parveen

  2. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University, 3407 Williams Hall, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7620, USA

    Md Mahfuz Islam

  3. Agricultural and Fisheries Division, Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), Ministry of Water Resources, Gulshan 1, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

    Abdul Halim Farhad Sikder

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  1. Md Wahiduzzaman
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Contributions

Md Wahiduzzaman and Zakia Parveen conceived and planned the experiments. Md Wahiduzzaman and Md Mahfuz Islam carried out the experiment, performed data analysis, and wrote the manuscript with inputs from other authors. Abdul Halim Farhad Sikder contributed to sample collection and manuscript preparation. This research was supervised by Zakia Parveen.

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Correspondence to Md Mahfuz Islam.

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The article does not contain any studies with human participants but fish samples from the Dhaleswari River were used for this study.

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Wahiduzzaman, M., Islam, M.M., Sikder, A.H.F. et al. Bioaccumulation and Heavy Metal Contamination in Fish Species of the Dhaleswari River of Bangladesh and Related Human Health Implications. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 3854–3866 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02963-0

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