Health Risk Assessment and Levels of Heavy Metals in Farmed Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) from the Volta Basin of Ghana

Emmanuel Kaboja Magna,Samuel Senyo Koranteng,Christopher Gordon,Augustine Donkor,Shafaqat Ali

doi:10.1155/2021/2273327

Emmanuel Kaboja Magna, Samuel Senyo Koranteng + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/2273327

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Abstract

Heavy metals (Pb, Cd, As, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cr) are some of the most toxic elements that can bioaccumulate from sources linked to human activities, such as industry and agriculture. This study quantifies the concentrations of several heavy metals in caged tilapia found in Ghana’s Volta Basin and assesses the associated health risks. The levels of heavy metals in the tissues of Oreochromis niloticus from three cage farms (N = 52) were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). The implication for human health was assessed using several risk assessment techniques. Fe (50.11 ± 10.22 mg/kg) and Cr (0.31 ± 0.07 mg/kg) had the highest and lowest accumulated metal concentrations, respectively. Heavy metal concentrations in tilapia tissue from fish farms were ordered as follows: Fe > Mn > Zn > Ni > Cr (farm A), Fe > Zn > Ni > Mn (farm B), and Fe > Mn > Zn > Ni > Cr (farm C). All metals had an estimated daily intake (EDI) below the threshold, and mean differences between sample farms were not statistically significant. Similarly, the values of target hazard quotients (HQs) and hazard indices (HIs) were less than one. According to the risk assessment results, eating tilapia from farms posed no risk to human health. The presence of Mn, Fe, and Ni concentrations above the maximum level in the fish, on the other hand, suggests that they may affect fish health.

Highlights

Global fish consumption has increased in recent years, owing to the growing awareness of fish’s nutritional and therapeutic benefits
There were elevated levels of Mn in the analysed fish feed than the maximum residue levels required in the fish diet by FAO. ere was a significant positive correlation of Fe-Mn (r 0.852, p < 0.01) and MnMn (r 0.852, p < 0.01) in fish and fish feed as in Table 4, indicating that the high level of manganese in the caged fish was probably due to the uptake from the fish feed
Conclusions e results indicate that Zn, Cr, As, Mn, Ni, and Fe were detected in variable concentrations in all samples, with the level of accumulation varying among tilapia fish from different farms

Summary

Introduction

Global fish consumption has increased in recent years, owing to the growing awareness of fish’s nutritional and therapeutic benefits. Ese metals are persistent and nonbiodegradable in the ecosystem, which results in metal bioaccumulation in aquatic biota, including fish [6]. The concentrations of heavy metals found in fish tend to correlate with those found in the water and sediment of the aquatic habitat from which they are drawn, as well as the duration of exposure [7]. Nonessential metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury are considered highly toxic, Journal of Chemistry even in trace amounts. Environmental pollution and fish vulnerability to heavy metal contaminants are primarily due to exposure to anthropogenic sources, such as agricultural and domestic pesticides, fertilisers, incinerator emissions, municipal or local waste emissions, and smelting and mining operations [12]

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