Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Tilapia Mossambicus Fish from Industrially Polluted Patalganga River, India

This study aims to investigate heavy metal concentration in the commercial fish found in industrially polluted Patalganga River, India. Heavy metal accumulation in the food chain results into various deleterious effects such as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to aquatic activities etc. In present study, metal abundance in different tissues of fish was found in the order gill > skin > muscle. The muscles of the fish are the rich source of proteins and other nutrients; however, concentration of heavy metals such as Fe, Zn, Cr, Pb and As was very high and above the respective WHO/FAO limits. Such fishes are becoming rich source of toxic heavy metals too and posing threat to human health. In addition, contamination levels of fish serves as one of the most significant indicators in aquatic systems for the estimation of metal pollution level.