Assessment of Heavy Metals Distribution in Some Freshwater Fish Organs Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to quantify heavy metals (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, V and Zn) concentrations in various organs (muscles, liver, kidney, gills, and gonads) of five economically fish species- Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), Blue Tilapia (Oreochromis aureus), Mango Tilapia (Sarotherodon galilaeus), Bayad Catfish (Bagrus bajad) and mullet (Mugil cephalus), collected during winter 2013 from ElBahr El-Pharaony ain, El-Menoufia Governorate, Egypt using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The results showed that, heavy metals concentrations in the organs of five fish species varied for Al- 2. 621-25. 745 As- 0. 213-0. 950 Ba- 0. 134-0. 932 Cd- 0. 110-0. 923 Co- 0. 036-0. 909 Cr- 0. 056-1. 365 Cu- 0. 195-5. 442 Fe- 11. 496-60. 201 Mn- 1. 048-6. 275 Ni- 0. 226-8. 403 Pb- 1. 357-5. 719 Se- 0. 45- 2. 16 Sn- 0. 05-1. 99 V- 0. 22-1. 33 and Zn- 8. 184-42. 315 ppm, while Sb was not detected in any fish organs. On the other hand, the heavy metal concentrations in various organs of different five fish species showed significant differences of their accumulation levels. The lowest levels of all metals in the present study were observed in fish muscles of the five fish species, while liver, kidney, gills and gonads shows the highest value.