Concentration of Zn, Cu and Pb in some selected marine fishes of the Pahang coastal waters, Malaysia

Problem statement: Heavy metals constitute one of the most hazardous substances that could be accumulated in biota. Fish populations exploited by man often live in coastal area environments that contain high levels of heavy metals, coming from human activities such as industrial and agricultural wastes. A problem to deal when using fishes as biomonitors of heavy metals is the relationship existing between metal concentration and several intrinsic factors of the fish such as organism size, genetic composition and age of fish. Approach: Concentration of Zn, Cu and Pb were determined in eight commercially valuable fish species, Selaroides leptolepis, Euthynnus affinis, Parastromateus niger, Lutjanius malabaricus, Epinephelus sexfasciatus, Rastrelliger kanagurta, Nemipterus japonicus and Megalaspis cordyla from Pahang coastal water. The concentration was measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study focuses on the level of Zn, Cu and Pb in order to assess the environmental pollution by using fishes as an indicator. Results: Concentrations of the heavy metals in examined fish species ranged as follow: Zn 19.27 µg g-1 dry weight; Cu 2.88 µg g-1 dry weight and Pb 0.26 µg g-1 dry weight, respectively. The concentrations of Zn, Cu and Pb were found to follow the order: stomach > muscle > gills. Significant correlations were found between fish weight and heavy metals concentration in the fish organs. Conclusion: The estimated values of all metals in muscles of fish in this study were below the established values. Therefore, it can be concluded that the fish from Pahang coastal water are comparatively clean and do not constitute a risk for human health

Spatial and temporal bottom sediment characteristics of Pahang river estuary, Pahang, Malaysia

Bottom sediment samples from Pahang river- estuary were analyzed for the sediment characteristics in order to understand better sedimentation processes in the estuary. The mean, sorting,skewness and kurtosis values of each sample were determined by the Moment’s method. This study showed that the sediment characteristics were not significantly differ (p > 0.05) with the seasonal changes, except for sorting (p < 0.05). The sediment mean size becomes finer towards the estuarine area with the range of very coarse sand to fine silt. This indicates that the characteristics of deposited sediments at each station are much dependant upon the combination of physical forces such as freshwater run-off, tidal currents and waves

Levels of some heavy metals in fishes From Pahang river estuary, Pahang, Malaysia

In this study, the concentration of Pb, Cu and Zn were determined in muscle, gills and stomach of six fish species caught from Pahang river estuary. These metals concentration were measured by ICP-MS in order to assess the fish contamination with these metals. This study showed that all catfishes (Arius sp.) presented the highest metals content. Tissue analysis revealed that the stomach accumulated the highest level of these metals. Based on the results, metal concentration in the edible part of the examined fish (muscle) were in the safety permissible levels for human consumption

Heavy metal accumulation in commercially important fishes of south west Malaysian coast

Now-a-days, bioaccumulation of toxic metals in aquatic animals causes serious threats to the human health when they are consumed. Thus the detection of toxic elemental concentration in aquatic flora and fauna has attracted various researches to determine their toxic levels in organism’s edible parts. Upon considering this issue, the accumulation of some heavy metals such as Mercury (Hg), Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn) in Muscle and gill tissues were determined in commercially important fishes. Five species (Nemipterus japonicas, Chirocentrus dorab, Lutjanus sebae, Otolithes ruber and Pampus argenteus) were collected from south west coast of Malaysia, covering 3 states (Johor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan). Metal concentration was determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). In general, higher metal accumulation was detected in gill tissues than the muscle tissue of selected fishes while Hg concentration was higher in muscle tissues except in Pampus argenteus. Similar observation was noted in As and Pb accumulation in N. japonicus and L. sebae, respectively. Hg and As concentration was higher in P. argenteus muscle and gill tissues on the other hand higher Pb and Zn level was noted in Muscle tissues L. sebae. Higher concentration of Pb and Zn were detected in gill tissues of L. sebae and O. ruber, respectively. There was no species specific differences in metal accumulation were noted (p<0.05). It was also observed that essential metal level in fish samples were greater than non-essential toxic metals. The metal concentrations found in this study were lower than the national and international standard maximum permissible limits for human consumption. Therefore, no public health problem would be raised in the consumption of these fishes.

Accumulation and distribution of lead and copper in Avicennia marina and Rhizophora apiculata from Balok mangrove forest, Pahang, Malaysia

Bioaccumulation of lead and Copper in Avicennia marina and Rhizophora apiculata was studied. Samples of leaves, barks and roots were collected from Balok mangrove forest, Pahang. Pb and Cu accumulation was higher in Avicennia marina root tissue compared to bark and leaf but lower than surrounding sediment level. The average concentration of Pb in A. marina leaf, bark, root and sediment was observed to be 5.39 ppm, 3.63 ppm, 18.21 ppm and 23.13 ppm, and average Cu concentration was 4.13 ppm, 4.27 ppm, 4.81 ppm and 12.33 ppm, respectively. R. apiculata also showed higher concentration of Pb and Cu in root tissue compared to bark and leaf tissues but lower than surrounding sediment. The average concentration of Pb in R. apiculata leaf, bark, root and sediment was observed to be 4.30 ppm, 2.97 ppm, 22.45 ppm and 31.23 ppm, respectively. The average Cu concentration was 2.93 ppm, 4.71 ppm, 4.81 ppm and 15.52 ppm, respectively. Results of concentration factors (CF) showed that the accumulation of Pb and Cu was higher in A. marina than in R. apiculata

Distribution of Chromium, Manganese and Cobalt in the Bottom Sediment of Pahang River-Estuary, Pahang, Malaysia

Bottom sediments from 62 stations at Pahang river-estuary were analyzed for the concentrations of Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn) and Cobalt (Co). Heavy metal concentrations were analyzed by using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The average dry weight concentrations of Cr, Mn and Co were 62.80±20.04, 416.21±127.41 and 7.93±3.25 μg g-1, respectively. The observed concentrations of the studied metals were significantly higher near the estuary and declining as the sampling points were further away from the estuary. The Enrichment Factors (EFs) were calculated and all elements showed metal contamination was predominantly of terrigenous in origin