The relationships between biometric characteristics of Barbus grypus with heavy metals levels in tissues (muscle and gill) from Arvand River, Iran

Abstract

Heavy metals concentration (Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni) in muscle and gill tissue of the fish Barbus grypus was assessed in winter 2007. In total, 60 fish samples were taken from Arvand River and experiments were carried out on two fish tissues (muscle and gill) separated after biometrical measurements. Extraction of the heavy metals was performed using concentrated nitric acid and then A.A.S. was used for measurement of the heavy metals. Results showed 2.83, 16.42, 2.68, 0.77kg of heavy metals for gram dry weight of the fish for cadmium, lead, copper and nickel concentration in muscle tissue and 2.79, 9.03, 6.98, 1.39 in grill tissue. Metal levels in muscle tissue in this research were compared with standards values such as World Health Organization (WHO), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), based on which only lead and cadmium showed higher than standard levels. We found positive linear relationship between metal accumulation levels of cadmium and lead in muscle and gill tissue with total length and weight. There was a significant relationship between copper accumulation level in muscle tissue with weight but not so for the length. There was no significant relationship between copper accumulations level in the gill tissue with length and weight. There was significant relationship between nickel accumulation levels in the gill tissue and the total length and weight but not so for the muscle tissue.