Abstract

Heavy metal accumulation in fish from Ivo River at Ishiagu was carried out to assess the level of Pb and Zn concentrations. Five healthy fish were collected and divided into groups for this assessment using group (I) as the primary control. The other four groups (II-IV) were exposure to single and joint sublather concentration for 150 h and 17 days, respectively. The level of heavy metal concentrations in the selected fish were determined using Chromosomal Aberration Test (CAT) induced in the branchial arches or gill arches in the fish. From the result, the groups (II-IV) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than the control (I) in their chromosomal aberration abundance. While binary mixture of lead and zinc in equimolar concentration revealed significantly lower (p<0.05) incidence of chromosomal aberrations compared to group II-III containing the individual graded metal (lead and zinc) acting alone. Biological risk assessment based on chromosome morphology in aberration test revealed the mutagenicity of lead, zinc and their binary mixture. The single actions of the two metals were evidently observed to be significantly higher in toxicity than the equimolar mixture in chromosomal aberration abundance. There is high indication that lead and zinc would pose greater danger to health for the Ishiagu community if there is continuous consumption of fish from the river over a period of time.

Keywords:

Assessment, heavy metal, Ivo river and fish,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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