Bioaccumulation and Bioremediation of Heavy Metals in Fishes—A Review

Abstract

Heavy metals, the most potent contaminants of the environment, are discharged into the aquatic ecosystems through the effluents of several industries, resulting in serious aquatic pollution. This type of severe heavy metal contamination in aquaculture systems has attracted great attention throughout the world. These toxic heavy metals are transmitted into the food chain through their bioaccumulation in different tissues of aquatic species and have aroused serious public health concerns. Heavy metal toxicity negatively affects the growth, reproduction, and physiology of fish, which is threatening the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector. Recently, several techniques, such as adsorption, physio-biochemical, molecular, and phytoremediation mechanisms have been successfully applied to reduce the toxicants in the environment. Microorganisms, especially several bacterial species, play a key role in this bioremediation process. In this context, the present review summarizes the bioaccumulation of different heavy metals into fishes, their toxic effects, and possible bioremediation techniques to protect the fishes from heavy metal contamination. Additionally, this paper discusses existing strategies to bioremediate heavy metals from aquatic ecosystems and the scope of genetic and molecular approaches for the effective bioremediation of heavy metals.

Health Risks Associated with the Concentration of Heavy Metals in Sediment, Water, and Carp Reared in Treated Wastewater from a Slaughterhouse

“…Depending on the physiological role of each specific tissue, different metals have varied harmful effects in different fish tissues. The effects of heavy metals on different organ systems, such as the muscle tissue, liver, skin, gills, nervous system, skeleton and blood, are well described [63,65,66].…”

Assessment of Some Toxic Heavy Metals in Rice and Beans Sold in Benin City, Nigeria

“…In comparison to pathogenic bacteria, mycotoxins, carcinogens, enzymes, and pesticides, heavy metals have become the most difficult to eradicate food contaminants due to their stability, long half-lives, non-biodegradability, bioaccumulation, transferability, and high toxicity at low concentrations (Zhou et al, 2022;Shahjahan et al, 2023). They are known as heavy metals because of their high density (greater than 5 gcm -3 ), atomic number, atomic weight, and position in the periodic table.…”

Use Fry of <i>Cyprinus carpio</i> as Biomarker for Lead and Cadmium

“…Lead is bioaccumulated in fish organs, such as the gill, liver, and spleen, as well as in both systems urine and the digestive (Abdel-Warith et al, 2020). Pb affects the fish's blood parameters (Ikeogu et al, 2016) Additionally, Pb toxicity causes changes in enzyme activity in the liver and the plasma, which leads to damage in the cell membrane and shreds the liver cells in fish (Farhan et al, 2023). Also negatively affects growth by reducing weight gain, rate of growth, and food intake (Zulfahmi et al, 2021).…”