AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 7 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.3233/AJW-2010-7_1_11
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Heavy Metal Concentration in Water, Sediments, Freshwater Mussels and Fishes of the River Shitalakhya, Bangladesh

Md. Kawser Ahmed1* Anupam Chandra Bhowmik2 Safiur Rahman3 Md. Rezaul Haque4
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1 Department of Fisheries, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
2 Department of Zoology, Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
3 Bangladesh Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
4 Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna-9208, Bangladesh
AJWEP 2010, 7(1), 77–90; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-2010-7_1_11
Submitted: 17 February 2009 | Accepted: 7 December 2009 | Published: 1 January 2010
© 2010 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

This study was undertaken to study the concentration of some heavy metals in the water and sediment samples and their bioaccumulations in freshwater fish and mussels of the Shitalakhya River. In water samples, concentration of Ni ranged from 4.31 to 7.83 µg/L, Pb 41.24 to 63.15 µg/L, Cd 7.12 to 10.11 µg/L, Cr 192.18 to 234.32 µg/L, and Cu 156.38 to 254.07 µg/L at different sampling stations during pre-monsoon, monsoon and post- monsoon. In sediment samples, Ni ranged from 120.96 to 131.94 mg/kg, Pb 54.52 to 65.90 mg/kg, Cd 1.71 to 2.17 mg/kg, Cr 60.09 to 91.02 mg/kg, and Cu 56.07 to 91.51 mg/kg in dry weight basis at different stations during different seasons. In Puntius sophore, Ni ranged from 9.07 to 13.01 mg/kg, Pb 8.01 to 10.09 mg/kg, Cd 0.85 to 1.13 mg/kg, Cr 2.94 to 4.01 mg/kg, and Cu 4.92 to 5.27 mg/kg in dry weight basis during different seasons. In Glossogobius giuris, Ni ranged from 10.53 to 11.32 mg/kg, Pb 7.17 to 9.17 mg/kg, Cd 0.81 to 1.07 mg/kg, Cr 3.13 to 3.37 mg/kg, and Cu 5.19 to 6.03 mg/kg in dry weight basis during different seasons. In the muscles of the freshwater mussels (Lamellidens marginalis), Ni ranged from 8.19 to 9.07 mg/kg, Pb 9.16 to 13.09 mg/kg, Cd 1.09 to 1.21 mg/kg, Cr 8.12 to 9.07 mg/kg, and Cu 5.47 to 8.19 mg/kg in dry weight basis during different seasons. These variations of metal concentrations in fish and freshwater mussels in our study are likely to be due to the different sampling locations, seasons, weight and age of the organisms. The present study found much higher concentration of heavy metals in water, sediment and aquatic animals than standard value of WHO and EQS.

Keywords
Heavy metals
bio-accumulation
freshwater mussel
Shitalakhya river
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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