The Concentrations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the organs of a commonly consumed Tilapia zilli from Escravos River in Delta State, Nigeria were evaluated to ascertain the level of their bioaccumulation and the possible human health risks associated with their consumption. Samples were analysed with a Gas Chromatographic Flame Ionization Detector system and results were subjected to a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to test for the significant level of the parameters across the groups. The level of significance was above 95% and the results were presented as mean ± standard error. The values of PAHs reported followed different trends. The muscle had the highest average concentration (313.43±1.64 mg/kg) followed by kidney (266.72±0.36 mg/kg) and the liver (266.17±0.81 mg/kg) while the gills had the lowest average concentration (192.96±1.09 mg/kg). The average concentrations of PAH reported in this research are highly above the EU recommended benchmark (2 µg/kg). The reported ailments from the communities cut across Escravos river could be traced to long term exposure of humans to these polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the sea foods which are transferred into their food chain because of their high level of dependency for protein source.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.