Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Fresh Water Fish, (Cyprinus carpio) Netted from Kabul River, Shah Alam Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Abstract

The current study evaluated the various selected heavy metals, Zinc (Zn), Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd) and Arsenic (Ar) in intestine, gill and muscle of a fresh water fish species Cyprinus carpio. The level of each heavy metal was recorded in intestine, gill and muscle by using the Spectrophotometer. The intestine showed highest metallic burden while muscles and gill respectively. By taking the average, it is found that the metals can be represented by following concentrations which are present in the organs studied. It can be seen that the order of metal accumulation in fish body is Cr > Ni > Zn >Pb> Cd>Cu>As with the average values of 3.18, 2.73, 1.52, 1.25, 0.95, 0.77 and 0.76 ppm respectively. Further the comparison of the present data with the Maximum Permissible Limits of international standards provided by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it can be seen that the levels of Zinc, Nickel, Copper and Arsenic are within the normal range with the average values of 1.52 ppm, 2.73 ppm, 0.77 ppm and 0.76 ppm respectively. While the values of Chromium (3.18 ppm), Lead (1.25 ppm) and Cadmium (0.95) are higher than permissible limits that are 1 ppm, 0.5 ppm and 0.05 ppm respectively.