Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in an Estuarine Fish Liza parsia of Ashtamudi Lake-Southwest Coast of Kerala, India

Abstract

Monthly concentration of four Heavy metals (Iron, Copper, Zinc, Lead) were determined in liver, ovary and muscles of  fish Liza parsia from three sites of Ashtamudi lake during December 2010 to November 2011.The results were expressed as µg/gm dry weight. Fish living in polluted waters tend to accumulate heavy metals in their tissues. Generally, accumulation depends on metal concentration, time of exposure, environmental conditions and intrinsic factors. Various metals show different affinity to fish tissues. Most of them mainly accumulate in liver followed by ovary. Comparing to the other tissues, fish muscles usually contain the lowest level of metals. The heavy metal accumulation in various tissues is in the order of Iron>copper>Zinc> Lead. ANOVA showed that the three stations showed significant difference in the accumulation of heavy metals.