Trace Metals in Water, Fish and Sediments from Elechi Creek, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The concentration of trace metals: Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), magnesium (Mn), Nickel (Ni) and Zinc (Zn) were determined in water, sediment and in the tissues of Sarontheron melanotheron, Tympanotonus fuscatus and Tilapia guineensis collected from Elechi creek in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. In sediments, the order of concentration was Cd=Ni<Mn<Pb<Zn while the order in water was Mn<Cd=Zn<Ni<Pd. The mean concentrations of the trace metals (mg/kg dry weight) in fin and shell fish samples ranged from 0.003–0.18 (Cd), <0.001 –2.3 (Pb), 0.004 -1.21 (Mn), 0.16-0.70 (Ni) and 0.09 –7.04 (Zn). Tympanotonus fuscatus recorded the lowest concentration of all the metals. The Pearson product moment correlation among the metals in water, fish and sediment samples showed that all metals positively correlated well (p<0.05). Fishes from Elechi creek were not heavily burdened with these trace metals, but aquatic environment should be monitored periodically to avoid excessive intake of trace metals by human.

Keywords: Trace metals, Elechi creek, shell and fin fishes, Sediments