A preliminary study on the toxic potentials of shea butter effluent using Clarias gariepinus as a biological model

Abstract

This study was conducted purposely to evaluate the effects of shea butter effluent (SBE) on the freshwater inhabitant using Clarias gariepinus as a biological model. A prominent Local factory of shea butter at Tede, ATISBO Local Government was chosen because the effluent flows directly into a near-by stream that ends up at a popular Dam in the Local Government on which more than 120,000 people depend for domestic use.Static bioassay was conducted to determine the LC50 of shea butter effluent to Clarias gariepinus. Ten fishes each were exposed to 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, and 0.09ppt (lethal concentration) of SBE in separate water plastic bowl of (40cmX29cmX28cm) of 60litres capacity.The lethal Concentration (LC50) value of SBE was 0.057ppt for 96hrs of exposure. Total mortality occurred in the concentrations of 0.08 and 0.09ppt within 24hours of exposure period. Behavioural reactions exhibited by the fish include erratic movement, air gulping, loss of reflex, molting, barbell deformation, hemorrhage, and excessive mucus secretion in fish exposed to higher concentration of shea butter effluent. The appreciable increase in the mean value of heavy metal, such as Manganese, Nickel, Cadmium, Zinc, Copper and Lead revealed that the increase in the concentration of shea butter effluent leads to bioaccumulation of the aforementioned heavy metals in the test organisms. The values for all the metals exceed the permissible Criteria of the national and international regulatory body. Therefore, Shea butter effluent is highly toxic to freshwater fishes, its discharged directly into water bodies, new fish farms or in areas close to aquatic environment should not be encouraged. Keyword:Pollution, shea butter, fish, heavy metal, behavior