Fate and toxicity of cadmium and lead accumulation in different tissues (gills, liver, kidney, brain) of a freshwater fish Channa punctatus Agrahari Shweta1, Gopal Krishna2 1Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, (U.P.), India. 2Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, (U.P.), India. Abstract Bioaccumulation of cadmium and lead in the freshwater fish (Channa punctatus) was studied using two sublethal concentrations for 15 days in semi-static test system. The heavy metal concentrations used were one-fifth (47.32 mg/L and 37.71 mg/L) and one-tenth (35.86 mg/L and 18.85 mg/L) the 96-hr LC50 of cadmium and lead in this species. The highest bioaccumulation was calculated in animals exposed to higher concentration of toxicant, indicating the accumulation is also the concentration dependent. Both cadmium and lead accumulated significantly in all tissues (viz. gills, liver, kidney and brain) as compared to control values. However, cadmium in the liver and lead in the brain shows no any significant accumulation in the lower concentration. Highest cadmium accumulation occurred in the gills and was followed by the liver, brain and kidney whereas highest lead accumulation occurred in the brain and was followed by gills, liver and kidney. Protein values were also determined in gills, liver, kidney and brain and a significant decrease in protein level (p<0.01–<0.001) was observed in all the tissues except brain in both the sublethal concentration of cadmium. It is proposed that measurement of bioaccumulation and total protein in fish tissues may prove to be useful in biomonitoring of exposure to aquatic pollutants. Top Key words Cadmium, Lead, Channa punctatus, Bioaccumulation, Protein content, Somatic index, Tissues. Top |