Seasonal Variation in the Levels of Heavy Metals in Surface Water of River Basantar and various Tissues of Barilius vagra, J&K

Author: Sapana Jangral, Monika Sharma, Kunal Sharma, Anita Sharma and Roopma Gandotra

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Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the concentration of heavy metals (in ppm) of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Pb in water samples and various tissues (muscle, gonads, gills, and intestine) of Barilius vagra collected from the river Basantar, Samba, India. The declining trend of Fe>Zn>Cu>Pb was seen in the average concentration of the examined metals in surface water. The findings indicated that Fe was accumulated most and Pb least in river water. The trend of accumulation of zinc in different tissues of fish was found to be gonads>intestine>muscle>gills. The distribution of copper in different tissues of B. vagra followed the order: intestinal >gonads> muscle >gills. The trend of distribution of iron in different tissues was intestine>gills>muscle>gonads. The order of accumulation of metals in different tissues emerged as intestinal>gills>gonads>muscle. Further, the order of accumulation of different metals was observed to be Fe>Zn>Cu>Pb in muscle, gonads, and intestine, while in gill tissue it followed the order Fe>Zn>Pb>Cu. The order of accumulation of studied metals might be a result of the fact that different metals tend to accumulate differently in tissues according to their active role in physiological processes. Although the bioaccumulation of heavy metals at the experimental sites did not exceed the acceptable limits recommended by agencies such as FAO and WHO. The present results showed an increasing trend of accumulation during the second year of study, which unquestionably poses a serious threat to the aquatic organism’s ability to survive in the study area. The situation will worsen and may result in the loss of the valuable fish diversity if timely remedial measures are not taken. Therefore, industrial discharges should be cleaned before entering the river, and fish fauna should be regularly inspected to resolve this serious issue.

Keywords

Barilius vagra, Heavy metals, Bioaccumulation, Pollution

Conclusion

Present study revealed that the concentration of all studied metal viz. Fe, Zn, Cu and Pb in surface water were within permissible limits except Fe which was found above the permissible limits. Further, in fish tissues the concentration of metals in different tissues (Muscle, Gonad, Intestine, gills) were within permissible limits and more metal accumulation was observed in non-edible tissues like gonads, intestine, and gills thus affecting the fish physiology, development and reproduction of fish. It was observed in the present study that bioconcentration of heavy metals found higher during the second year of study due to increase in the pollution level. Further low concentration of metals in edible tissue i.e. muscle was observed during the present study, so consumption of fish from river Basantar is still safe. But if metal concentration goes on increasing in the river water, it may cause impact on human beings in near future. So, in order to monitoring and evaluation of ecological condition of fishes, such type of fish accumulation pattern can be helpful.

References

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How to cite this article

Sapana Jangral, Monika Sharma, Kunal Sharma, Anita Sharma and Roopma Gandotra (2023). Seasonal Variation in the Levels of Heavy Metals in Surface Water of River Basantar and various Tissues of Barilius vagra, J&K. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(3): 645-654.