Assessment of heavy metal contamination of fish from a fish farm by bioconcentration and bioaccumulation factors

Sanou, Ali; Coulibaly, Safiatou; Coulibaly, Mariame; N’Goran N’dri, Séraphin; Célestin Atse, Boua

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2021.151995

Assessment of heavy metal contamination of fish from a fish farm by bioconcentration and bioaccumulation factors

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

10.21608/ejabf.2021.151995

Abstract

Fish farms are an alternative to meet human needs for fish. However, these farms are influenced by intense anthropogenic activities that can affect the quality of water, sediments, and fish. This study aims to determine the concentrations of heavy metals in water and sediments in order to assess their transfer into farmed tilapia using bioconcentration and bioaccumulation factors. The results revealed very high levels of arsenic (0.050 ± 0.029 mg/L) and cadmium (0.047 ± 0.059 mg/L) in water compared to mercury (0.012 ± 0.002 mg/L) and lead (0.007 ± 0.001 mg/L). In sediments, the most accumulated metal is mercury (25.387 ± 7.728 mg/kg) while arsenic (1.455 ± 0.383 mg/kg) is the most accumulated metal in fish muscle. These arsenic levels in fish muscle are above the reference dose. Pearson’s correlation showed that mercury and lead concentrations in water influence bioconcentration in fish while cadmium concentrations in sediment influence bioaccumulation. The results show that the fish muscle was contaminated with arsenic. In addition, there was bioconcentration of mercury and lead in the muscle, which is a risk for fish survival and human consumption