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Life Science Bulletin, Vol. 7(2) 2010 : 217-222 ISSN : 0973 5453
Department of Zoology, Jawahar Bharati Degree and P.G. College, Kavali (A.P.)
ABSTRACT : The present study was initiated to asses the level of heavy metals in different tissues of fish, Tilapia mossambica
collected from the Pennar estuary at Vutukur of Nellore district. Seasonal variation in heavy metal toxicity was recorded
from July,2008 to June,2009 which could be due to aqua and industrial wastewater discharge, into Pennar estuary. In the
present study, accumulation of heavy metals in all the organs of the test fish (Tilapia mossambica) was found to be high
during monsoon season and low during summer season. The low values of pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, alkalinity, hardness
during monsoon season may enhance the dissolution of particulate form of the metal (carbonates, chloro-complexes and
hydroxides) and increases the amount of ionic species in water corresponding to the increase in level of metals in the organisms.
The higher level of metals in intestine can be attributed to the type of uptake of food of fish i.e., specific mode of nutrition.
Since, the fish, Tilapia mossambica is a detritus feeder and feed either by sucking up the surface layer of the mud or by
grazing on the rock surfaces, leaving to the transfer of mineral particles into the system along with food. In the present study,
the level of certain heavy metals in some tissues exceeded the FAOs (1983) legal limits. The consumption of such fish muscle
may result in lethal effects in secondary or tertiary consumers (human beings) by biomagnification process.
Key words : Heavy metal, Toxicity, Tilapia, Pennar estuary, Industrial pollution.
INTRODUCTION
Estuaries are important sources of food for coastal aquaculture, whereby, they act as natural filters for suspended material and
pollutants and offer effective flood protection for low-lying areas (Mitra et al.,1990 and Reddy & Mohanthy,2003). Human activities
have drastically altered natural concentration of many substances in the estuaries and added numerous new chemicals. Considerable
attention has been focused on the fate of heavy metals and their derivatives in the aquatic environment (Shankar and Manjunatha,1994).
Biomonitoring of heavy metal pollution has been given ever-increasing attention due to the ability of various aquatic organisms to
accumulate these heavy metals. Most of the salts of heavy metals and pesticides produce toxic effect on fish through physical
accumulation (Tilak et al.,2005). Thus, depending on the physico-chemical properties of the toxin, either physical or functional
accumulation may occur or both simultaneously. Heavy metals are capable of accumulating not only in a biological object (fish, phyto
and zooplankton and plants), but also in the sediment. Hence, the present study was initiated to asses the level of heavy metals in
different tissues of fish, Tilapia mossambica collected from the Pennar estuary at Vutukur Nellore and their seasonal variations from
June 2005 to July 2006 to know the extent of heavy metal pollution, probably due to Nellore district industrial wastewater discharge,
by using it as a biological indicator.
For the bioaccumulation study, fish Tilapia mossambica of 10-12 cm length and 21+2 gm weight were collected, twice per
season. In each sampling six fish of irrespective sex were collected. Different organs viz., gill; intestine, liver, kidney and muscle were
dissected out and separated into different Petri dishes. All the tissues were dried at temperature 120C for 24-48 hrs and ground to fine
powder using a pestle and mortar. Later, known quantities of the fine powder were taken into crucibles and were ashed in a muffle
furnace at 550C for 2 hrs. The ash was digested with concentrated nitric, perchloric and sulfuric acids. Following the acid digestion,
the samples were cooled and dissolved in 1 N nitric acid and made upto 10 ml. Determination of the heavy metals concentration was
carried out by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric (AAS-model 302) method as suggested by Topping (1973). A standard mercury
analyzer (ECIL) was used for Hg estimation by cold vapour AAS. The results were expressed as gg-1 dry weight.
The results of the accumulation of selected heavy metals in the selected tissues of fish, Tilapia mossambica that were collected
at Vutukur of Nellore district and their seasonal variations were shown in Tables.1&2.
Copper : The accumulation of copper was minimum (2.0235 gg-1) in kidney and the maximum (50.0175 gg-1) in gill (Fig.1). The
accumulation was minimum (1.102 gg-1) during summer season and the maximum (50.0175 gg-1) during monsoon season (Fig.2).
Zinc : The accumulation of zinc was minimum (2.1945 gg-1) in muscle and the maximum (70.642 gg-1) in intestine (Fig.1). The
accumulation was minimum (2.1945 gg-1) during summer season and the maximum (70.642 gg-1) during monsoon season (Fig.2).
Cadmium : The accumulation of cadmium was minimum (0.0247gg-1) in kidney and the maximum (2.0425 gg-1) in intestine
(Fig.1). The accumulation was minimum (0.0247 gg-1) during summer season and the maximum (2.0425 gg-1) during monsoon
season (Fig.2).
Lead : The accumulation of lead was minimum (0.0228 gg-1) in kidney and the maximum (10.089 gg-1) in gill (Fig.1). The
accumulation was minimum (0.0.228 gg-1) during summer season and the maximum (10.089 gg-1) during monsoon season (Fig.2).
Mercury : The accumulation of mercury was minimum (0.0152 gg-1) in kidney and the maximum (1.216 gg-1) in gill (Fig.1). The
accumulation was minimum (0.0152 gg-1) during summer season and the maximum (1.216 gg-1) during monsoon season (Fig.2).
In general, accumulation of all the heavy metals was observed to be minimum during summer and maximum during monsoon
season. Monitoring heavy metals in fish and other food item is concerned with human health protection. In terms of preference, fishes
are the prime seafood of Indians and fishes play a significant role in determining the heavy metal levels of body tissues of Indians who
are consuming seafood. The high level of fluctuation (seasonally) in the uptake of heavy metals in aquatic biota has been attributed to
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40
50
35
Metal conc. (g/g)
40
Metal conc. (g/g)
30
30 25
20
20
15
10 10
5
0
Gill Intestine Liver tissue Kidney Muscle 0
Pre-monsoon Monsoon Post-monsoon Summer
Fig. 1 Showing the annual average concentration of heavy metals Fig. 2 Showing the seasonal average concentration of heavy metal
in the tissues of fish, Tilapia mossambica collected from the in fish, Tilapia mossambica collected from the Penner estuary
Penner estuary at Vutukur during July,2008 to June,2009. at Vutukur during July,2008 to June,2009.
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The absolute concentration of heavy metal depends upon physical and chemical characteristics of the water (Sivakumar et al.,
1988). Changes in ambient water quality parameters (like temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, etc.) are interrelated
in changing the water quality and speciation of the metals. This alters the toxicity of the metal and the biological availability of the
metal. In the present study, the higher levels of accumulation of heavy metals in all the organs of the test fish, Tilapia mossambica was
found to be high during monsoon season and low during summer season. Sprague (1971) has stated that the concentration of a
pollutant alone is not a reliable criterion in the accumulation; other physical and chemical factors are also very important. In the
present study, temperature has a minimum impact on the accumulation of heavy metals in the test fish. The probable reason for this
would be that in the tropical regions like India, temperature range at different seasons are not great and the animal was no found to
show much correlation with the temperature fluctuation.
The low values of pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, alkalinity, hardness during monsoon season may enhance the dissolution of
particulate form of the metal (carbonates, chloro-complexes and hydroxides) and increased the amount of ionic species in water
corresponding the level of metals in the organisms, as observed by Mitra et al. (1994,1995); Muralidhran & Raja (1997) and
Chakravarthy & Vass (1999). These observations are also in corroborate with the findings of the present study, where the heavy metal
accumulation is more during monsoon season that is with low pH, salinity, temperature and high turbidity and dissolved oxygen.
Salinity is to be viewed as an extremely complex variable, affecting not only the physico-chemical characteristics of trace metals (i.e.
the amount of trace metal that remains in solution-ionic form - is a function of solvents) in the marine environment, but also in the
animal tissues (Arul et al.,1990). According to Patil (1998), in hard water, the toxicity decreased in comparison with soft water. High
alkalinity, hardness and pH also appear to play a vital role in regulating the degree of metal toxicity on fish.
The seasonal order of accumulation of metals in fish, Tilapia mossambica collected at Vutukur station were found to be :
In the present study, the heavy metals in water were more during monsoon season. Hence, the occurrence of high accumulation
levels of metals in fishes during monsoon season could be attributed to the background levels under the favorable physico-chemical
conditions. The other possible reason for high level of heavy metals in fish tissues during monsoon season might be attributed to the
physiology of the fish, as these fishes shows higher feeding rates between the months of October to December, as the breeding season
or pre spawning period occurs between these months. Babu (1995) has also made similar observation from the fishes of Bay of
Bengal.
On the contrary, during summer, in addition to the reasons quoted against monsoon season, photochemical decomposition of
certain organically bound metals (e.g. Methyl mercury) happens resulted in the evaporation of metals from seawater (Babu,1995). In
general, the accumulation of copper and zinc was more probably due to their essential nature, as they have biological importance as
constituents of metal enzymes (Senthilnathan and Balasubramanian,1997&1998). The studies on the distribution of heavy metals in
different organs of an organism are important to understand not only the extent of environmental pollution, but also the role of these
metal ions in metabolic processes. During the process of intake, some of the metals actually get accumulated in the body of the organs,
because of the affinity between certain metals and certain organ systems (Rao et al.,1998).
It is evident from the present study that the order of accumulation of metals in fish, Tilapia mossambica collected at Vutukur
were found to be :
This can be attributed to the point sources of heavy metals to the ambient medium at that station. Similar observations were
also made by Parimala (1994) from Marina Beach, Madras; Babu (1995) from Bay of Bengal and Krishnakumari and Nair (1999a&b)
from Thane and Basin creeks of Bombay.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are thankful to the Principal, Jawahar Bharati Degree & P.G.College, Kavali for providing the research facilities.
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