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Assessment and Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Water, Fish (wild and Farmed) and Associated Human Health Risk

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Abstract

Worldwide, anthropogenic activities are causing the natural environment and aquaculture systems to become heavily contaminated with heavy metals, which can lead to consumer’s health problems. In the current study, wild and farmed fish (n = 30) and water samples (n = 6) have been collected from the Chashma barrage and fish farm to assess the heavy metals concentration, i.e., Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn and Cr, in the water and some important organs (gills, liver, muscle, brain and bones) of wild and farmed fish (Labeo rohita) using Graphite furnace Atomic absorption spectrometry. Bioaccumulation factor and human health risk assessment were calculated to measure the health status of both fish and humans. Results show that in wild and farm fish’s gills, muscles and bones, the trend of the heavy metals was Zn > Pb > Cu > Cd > Cr. On the other hand, the brain and liver show Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd > Cr trend. Comparatively, the heavy metals concentration was mostly higher (P < 0.05) in wild fish. Further; in both fish habitats (water) the heavy metals (Cd and Pb) concentration was higher than the WHO standard level, while in the body, Cd was higher (P < 0.05) in all studied organs except the muscle, Cr was only lower (P > 0.05) in muscle and brain. Pb was higher (P < 0.05) in all studied organs of both fish. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals was mostly higher (P < 0.05) in wild fish than in farmed. EDI and THQ were higher in wild fish, but the HI value was lower than 1 for both fish. Moreover, the PCA analysis suggests a positive correlation between heavy metals concentration in fish organs and the water of both fish (wild and farmed). Results indicated that farmed fish showed less potential risk to humans than wild fish.

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Data Availability

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

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the fish pond owners (Muhammad Javid and Haris Niazi) for their support and hospitality and local fishermen (Jameel Somroo, Ahmad Butt and Zubair Ali) for helping in fish sample collection from the Chashma barrage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, 40100, Punjab, Pakistan

    Syed Sikandar Habib

  2. Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Lahore Sargodha Campus, Sargodha, 40100, Punjab, Pakistan

    Saira Naz

  3. Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Via Palatuccisnc, 98168, Messina, Italy

    Francesco Fazio & Cristina Cravana

  4. Department of Zoology, Islamia College University, Peshawar, 25120, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Mujeeb Ullah, Sobia Attaullah & Khayyam Khayyam

  5. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Shaheed Benazirabad, Nawabshah, 67450, Sindh, Pakistan

    Khalid Hussain Rind

  6. Institute of Polar Science, National Research Council, Unit of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Francesco Filiciotto

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  1. Syed Sikandar Habib
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  2. Saira Naz
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  3. Francesco Fazio
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  5. Mujeeb Ullah
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  6. Khalid Hussain Rind
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  9. Khayyam Khayyam
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Contributions

S.S.Habib and S.Naz conceived and designed the experiment. The first draft of the manuscript was written by M.Ullah and S.Attahullah. Samples collection and anlysis were performed by K.H.Rind and A.Khayyam. Manuscript was reviewed and edited by F.Fazio, C. Cravana and F.Filiciotto. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Francesco Fazio.

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Habib, S.S., Naz, S., Fazio, F. et al. Assessment and Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Water, Fish (wild and Farmed) and Associated Human Health Risk. Biol Trace Elem Res 202, 725–735 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03703-2

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