Organochlorine pesticide levels in Clarias gariepinus from polluted freshwater impoundments in South Africa and associated human health risks

Abstract

HighlightsClarias gariepinus muscle tissue bio-accumulated organochlorine pesticides. Predicted risk of developing cancer is higher than the recommended safe value of 1. The Roodeplaat Dam risk is as a result of muscle levels of dieldrin and aldrin. Non-carcinogenic risks were 2 to 6 times that of the level considered to be safe. Keywords:Muscle tissue, Organo-chlorine pesticides Human health, Cancer risk, Toxic risk, Fish consumption AbstractThere are increasing concerns regarding the safe human consumption of fish from polluted, freshwater impoundments. The aim of this study was to analyse the muscle tissue of the sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus for selected organo-chlorine pesticides (OCPs) and to perform a human health risk assessment using a standard protocol described by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Fish were collected from the polluted Roodeplaat-(RDPD), Rietvlei-(RVD) and Hartbeespoort (HBPD) Dam impoundments located in the north-eastern regions of South Africa. GC-MS analyses showed levels of various OCPs in fish muscle samples from all three impoundments. For fish collected from the RDPD, p,p 0 -DDE, endosulfan, lindane and band d-HCH were the most prevalent OCPs detected, while p,p 0 -DDE and endosulfan were the most predominant in fish from the RVD. Lindane and b-and d-HCH were the main OCPs detected in fish from the HBPD. Dieldrin was the only OCP detected at concentrations for which a cancer risk and a hazard index above the acceptable risk levels were estimated. This was the case for fish from both the RDPD and RVD impoundments. No toxic risk was estimated should fish from the HBPD be consumed.

Living with eutrophication in South Africa: a review of realities and challenges

“…WRI, 2000), extant concerns increasingly highlight the problem of eutrophication and the compounding problem of pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), pathogens, pro-inflammatory activity, pesticides and/or heavy metals in South African reservoirs and rivers, especially where urban runoff and wastewater effluents form a substantial component of the water balance (e.g. Harding, 2010, cited in Kidd, 2011Wose Kinge et al, 2010;Nyirenda et al, 2011;Siri et al, 2011;WHO, 2012a-c;Adebayo et al, 2014;Naidoo, 2014;Barnhoorn et al, 2015). High levels of nutrients in aquatic ecosystems may influence the toxicity of insecticides, complicating the understanding of invertebrate community response (Alexander et al, 2013).…”

Risk assessment of agricultural pesticides in water, sediment, and fish from Owan River, Edo State, Nigeria

“…This is of major concern because pesticide exposure could result in adverse effects such as reproductive impairment and suppression of the immune system (Aguilar et al 2002), which can have long-term consequences for fish population viability. There is also the concern that the consumption of these contaminated fish species, especially C. gariepinus, may expose consumers to possible health hazard because the consumption of contaminated food (including fish) has been established as a major route of human exposure to pesticides and other contaminants (Biego et al 2010;Barnhoorn et al 2014).…”

Histological Alterations in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758) Gills as Potential Biomarkers for Fungicide Contamination

“…Therefore, increasing agricultural production has resulted in increasing number of aquatic systems being impacted by the contaminants present in wastewater releases (Figueiredo-Fernandes et al 2007). It is well known that the pesticide application could represent a contaminant source for the aquatic environment and thus, affect aquatic fauna and in particular, fish (Pathan et al 2010;Botaro et al 2011;Thomas et al 2012;Wang et al 2013;Agbohessi et al 2014;Karthigayani et al 2014;Barnhoorn et al 2015). Factors to be considered in this regard are pesticide persistence in the environment and their potential for bioaccumulation and biomagnification in the food chain (Muthukumarave et al 2013;Rathnamma and Nagaraju 2014).…”