Toxicological evaluation of the surface water of Amilegbe River using rats

Abstract

Samples of water from Amilegbe River were collected for the determination of physicochemical characteristics and were fed to rats over a period of eight weeks. Total solids, total dissolved solids, biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand values were higher in Amilegbe river water than both bore-hole water and WHO standards. Packed cell volume, red blood count, hemoglobin concentration were significantly lower in test group than those of control group (p<0.05). In contrast, body weight, neutrophils, white blood count and platelet concentrations increased significantly in test group compared with those of control group (p<0.05). Activities of all the enzymes studied reduced significantly in the kidney, small intestine and liver of test rats compared with the control (p<0.05). However, serum enzyme activities, with the exception of serum ALP, increased significantly in test group compared with the control (p<0.05). It may be considered that Amilegbe river water is indeed polluted and its consumption may cause leakage of enzymes such as AST and ALT from tissues to the serum thereby leading to various disease conditions

Key Words: River water, bore-hole water, physicochemical changes, marker enzymes, rats

Biokemistri Vol.16(2) 2004: 94-101