1. Journal of National Oceanographic, Atmospheric and Marine Institute
©NOAMI
Vol.26, No.2, 2009
ISSN: 1027-2119
LEVELS OF LEAD AND CADMIUM IN 17 SPECIES OF FRESH WATER FISH OF BANGLADESH
A.K.M.Sharif
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka, Bangladesh
M.Alamgir and Stanley A.Bajue
Medgar Evers College, CUNY, NY, USA
ABSTRACT
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The lead and cadmium levels in seventeen commonly consumed fresh water fishes, Tenualosa ilisha,
Pangasius pangasius, Labeo bata , Neopropius atherinoides, Otolithoides pama, Puntius sarana, Ompok
pabda, Sicamugil cascasia, Clarias batrachus, Heteropneustes fossil, Labeo rohita, Gudusia chapra, Mystus
vittatus, Awaous quamensis, Eutropichthys vacha , Notopterus notopterus,and Mastacembelus armatus were
determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). In this study, it is found that Sicamugil cascasia
(kachki) contains the highest level, 10.05 µg g-1 and Mystus vittatus, the lowest level, 0.29 µg g-1 of Lead. The
level of cadmium is seen to the highest one, 0.16 µg g-1 in Ompok pabda ,Pabda) and the lowest one, 0.03
µg g-1 in Mastacembelus armatus (Baim),. Analytical quality was determined by analysis of standard
reference material MA-A-2™, Fish Flesh Homogenate, from IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). The
results of the present study positively indicate these commonly consumed fresh water fishes have the
concentrations of these trace metals well below the permissible levels suggested by WHO.
Key words: Lead, cadmium, fresh water fish, a biological material, atomic absorption spectrophotometry
(AAS),Bangladesh.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
In recent years much attention has been focused on concentrations of some toxic metals in freshwater fish and other
aquatic organisms [1-5]. Proper interest has understandably been mainly directed towards commercial and edible
species since high concentrations levels of some elements can be hazardous to health. It is also being suggested that
some aquatic organisms may provide useful means of monitoring such elemental concentration levels in surface
waters and their impact on the aquatic environment [6].
The main sources of lead in the aquatic environment are leaded gasoline, and contributions from mining areas, the
latter being typical point sources with a low ionization coefficient.

2. J.Nat.O.A.M.Institute Vol.26, No.2, 2009
On the other hand, cadmium is also easily volatilized at the operating temperatures of common industrial processes.
Much of the cadmium in the atmosphere results from incineration of ferrous scrap fossil fuel combustion, tire wear
and metallurgical processes [7].
The number of rivers, canal and stream in Bangladesh is about 230 with a total length of about 24,135 km and
occupying a riverine area of about 9,384 sq.km [8].
In Bangladesh, fish production was about 814,685 metric tons in 1987. Inland fishery contributed nearly 73% of
total production and supplies 80% of the animal protein requirement of the country. Fish is now an important source
of protein (~20%) for the general population and also represents a lion’s share of foreign exchange by its export to
other countries. In addition, it is also rich in essential minerals and vitamins, and low in saturated fats, making it an
ideal food.
Bangladesh is a country which has no baseline nor has a list of maximum permissible concentration of toxic
elements in water stated in a national legislation. The determination of cadmium and lead has yet been carried out
for fresh water fishes consumed in Bangladesh. Cd and Pb levels in a good number of commonly consumed fresh
water fishes collected from different areas of Bangladesh have been reported in this paper, which is believed to be a
great help for fish trade as well as health and safety of the people.
Materials and method
Sample collection
Fish samples - Tenualosa ilisha, Pangasius pangasius, Labeo bata , Neopropius atherinoides, Otolithoides pama,
Puntius sarana, Ompok pabda, Sicamugil cascasia, Clarias batrachus, Heteropneustes fossil, Labeo rohita,
Gudusia chapra, Mystus vittatus, Awaous quamensis ,Eutropichthys vacha , Notopterus notopterus and
Mastacembelus armatus were obtained from different fish auction places, namely, Soari Ghat,Dhaka; Gumati,
Comilla, ; and Turag, Tongi; Chandpur,Comilla; Sumanganj;Khulna and Rajshahi. The fish species were identified
by their scientific names with the help of the Department of Fisheries of Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. During
this study about 50 samples of each of fishes were collected, each sample weighing about 0.1 to 500 gm. Kachki,
Batashi and Darkina are small in size, each weighing about 0.2 to 2 gm, where other varieties of fishes are much
bigger in size having variable weights ranging from 100 to 500 gm depending on the type and age. The samples
were cleaned and washed with distilled water. The flesh parts of fishes were taken out from their bodies. These
samples were dried in an oven at 65o
C for 48 hours discontinuously. The dried samples were powdered and
homogenized. The sample powders were dried at 105o
C in an oven until a constant weight was obtained (dry
weight). The sample powders were finally preserved in clean and dry polythene bottles prior to analysis.
Chemical analysis
2 gm of the fish powder was added to a mixture of concentrated nitric acid (10 ml), 66% perchloric acid (5 ml) and
de-ionized water (5 ml) in a Teflon vessel. The vessel was placed in a sealed stainless container and heated at 150o
C
for 2 h in an oven. After cooling, the vessel was removed and the sample solution transferred to a Teflon beaker
containing 25 ml de-ionized water. The resulting solution was further heated at 100o
C for 15-20 min, and filtered;
the filtrate was diluted to 100 ml with de-ionized water. An analytical blank was prepared in a similar manner
without the sample. All glassware was carefully cleaned with hot nitric acid followed by thorough rinsing with de-
ionized water before use. The sample weight, acid proportions and final volumes are given in Table 1.
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3. J.Nat.O.A.M.Institute Vol.26, No.2, 2009
Table 1
Sample weight, acid proportions and final volumes
Sample weight
(g)
HClO4 added
(ml)
HNO3 added
(ml)
Volume
remaining (ml)
Water added
(ml)
Final volume
(ml)
2.0 5.0 10 5 95 100
The aqueous digest was analyzed directly using a Pye Unicam SP-2900 Flame Atomic Absorption
Spectrophotometer with electrodeless discharge lamp (Pb and Cd). Standards were prepared in an 0.1 N perchloric
acid. The analytical procedure was checked using standard reference material MA-A-2™, Fish Flesh Homogenate,
provided by the IAEA (Vienna). Results of the analysis are in given Table 2. Our results are in excellent agreement
with the certified values. Sensitivity and detection limits for the metals concerned, by the AAS are shown Table 3.
Table 2
Comparison of our values with certified values analysis of standard reference material MA-A-2™ from IAEA (µg
g-1
)
Metal Certified value Our value* Deviation
Pb 0.58±0.07 0.60±0.05 3.4
Cd 0.066±0.004 0.0.07±0.01 0.1
*Average of three determinations
Table 3
Minimum detection limit in fish matrix with the AAS (SP-2900, Pye Unican, UK)
Metal Sensitivity
(µg g-1)
Detection limit
(µg g-1
Pb 0.08 0.01
Cd 0.01 0.002
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 4. Shows that the levels of lead and cadmium for 17 varieties of fresh water fish. Data are expressed in
micrograms per gram on a dry weight basis. In Figure 1, the relationships, between the serial number of fish
specimens and the amounts of lead, Figure 2, serial number of fish and the amount of cadmium and Figure 3,serial
number of fish and amounts of Pb and Cd are shown respectively.
Out of the seventeen fresh water fish species, two (Kachki and Batashi) were prepared with the gut while the fifteen
varieties were prepared without gut for their analysis.
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4. J.Nat.O.A.M.Institute Vol.26, No.2, 2009
Table 4. Lead and Cadmium concentration in different species of fresh water fish of Bangladesh
(µg g-1
dry weight basis)
Sl.No Type of fish(Local
Names
In Bangladesh
Scientific names Lead Cadmium
1 Hilsa Shad
(Ilish)
Tenualosa ilisha 1.64±0.025 0.10±0.02
2 Yellow tail catfish
(Pangas)
Pangasius pangasius 3.09±0.07 0.13±0.00
3 Bata
(Bata)
Labeo
bata
2.24±0.01 0.14±0.02
4 Indian potasi
(Batashi)
Neopropius
atherinoides
5.41±0.27 0.08±0.00
5 Pana croaker
(Poa)
Otolithoides pam 1.85±0.13 0.07±0.03
6 Olive barb
(Shorputi)
Puntius sarana 2.42±0.27 0.10±0.01
7 Pabo catfish
(Pabda)
Ompok pabda 2.84±0.05 0.16±0.06
8 Yellow tail cascais
(Kachki)
Sicamugil cascasia 10.05±0.27 0.13±0.00
9 Walking catfish
(Koi)
Clarias batrachus 0.75±0.29 0.07±0.00
10 Air breathing fish
(Singh)
Heteropneustes
fossil
0.87±0.00 0.07±0.00
11 Ruhu
(rui)
Labeo rohita 1.25±0.01 0.09±.00
12 Small shad
(Chapila)
Gudusia chapra 1.93±0.14 0.09±0.01
13 Striped dwarf
catfish(Tengra)
Mystus vittatus 0.29±0.00 0.10±0.01
14 -(Bailla) Awaous
quamensis
0.67±0.14 0.09±0.01
15 -(Bacha) Eutropichthys
vacha
0.58±0.000 0.06±0.00
16 -(Pholi) Notopterus
notopterus
5.41±.27 0.08±0.00
17 Fresh water eel
(Baim)
Mastacembelus
armatus
0.58±0.00 0.03±0.01
Average 2.46±0.10 0.09±0.01
Range (0.29-10.05) (0.03-0.16)
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5. J.Nat.O.A.M.Institute Vol.26, No.2, 200
5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
AmountofLead
Serial number of fish
Figure.1
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
AmountofCadmium
Serial number of fish
Figure 2

6. J.Nat.O.A.M.Institute Vol.26, No.2, 2009
Although some investigators prefer to determine lead and cadmium etc., in the liver of fish [9], the present
investigation was carried out in the edible tissue only as the dietary habit of the people of Bangladesh excludes liver
of fishes. The levels of Pb vary between 0.29 µg g-1
in Mystus vittatusand 10.055 µg g-1
,Sicamugil cascasisa
(Kachki) and those of Cd , between 0.03 µg g-1
, Mastacembelus armatus and 0.16 µg g-1
, Ompok pabda
(Pabda).These variations are likely to be due to the living nature and dietary habits of the different species of fish.
Shorputi is the bottom living fish. Tenualosa ilisha (Ilish) is a fish of migrating nature. This fish is largely available
in the river, the Meghna at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal. The levels of Pb and Cd in this fish are 1.64 and 0.10 µg
g-1
. In two medium size popular fish species, Labeo rohita (rui) and Pangasius pangasius (Pangas), Pb levels range
between 1.25 and 3.09 µg g- 1
and those of Cd, 0.09 and 0.13 µg g-1
. Some of fish species, such as Shorputi, Pabda,
Poa, Bata ,Bacha ,Baim,Pholi generally live at the deeper parts of rivers, and water resources.. These species are in
almost continuous contact with sediments, which may the sources of contamination, and also hibernate in them
during the whole year. The rest other species, like Koi, Singh, Chapila, Tengra,Bailla are the shallow water fishes,
which may gather contaminants from muddy water. Dietary difference between these fish species and the other fish
samples is unlikely to be the source of higher metal.
There are very few data from Bangladesh, to compare the levels of metals found in fishes in this study.
Concentrations of metals in all varieties of fish were similar to those reported elsewhere [10-11]. Lead and cadmium
levels in all fishes examined range from 0.56 µg g-1
to 0.53µg g-1
and 0.019µg g-1
to 0.18µg g-1
respectively on wet
basis, if one considers the conversion factor of 4.8-5.0 for fresh weight. Concentrations at or close to these values
have been reported for tropical species from other areas of the World [12-21].
The mean concentrations of lead and cadmium in fish are 2.46 µg g-1
and 0.094 µg g-1
respectively. Taking 6-10 g of
fish as the maximum consumption per person per day for Bangladesh, it is estimated that the average intakes of lead
and cadmium through fish are 14.8 µg g-1
to 24.6 µg g-1
and 0.56 µg g-1
to 0.94 µg g-1
respectively. These values of
lead and cadmium are much below the provisional tolerable intakes by human being of total lead (7.1 µg kg-1
body
wt. day-1
) and cadmium (1.102 µg kg-1
wt.day-1
) [22-25].
The data may be taken as a convenient base line against which any further pollution trends could be measured and
evaluated. More comparative data from a range of sites in Bangladesh are, however, required for the assessment of
pollution with lead and cadmium.
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