Pesticide Levels in Two Fish Species from a Section of the Niger River, Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Examination of pesticides from various fish species in the Nile River Anambra state was used to assess the level of contamination in the Niger River. With the assistance of a fisherman, two distinct fish species were gathered from two different spots along the river. Tilapia (tilapia zillii) and Elops machnata (machnata tenpounder or African ladyfish) are the species. A BUCK M910 gas chromatography (GC-FID) was used to identify the species' organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and organophosphates (OPPs). Eleven distinct pesticides, including four organophosphates and six orgaochlorine pesticides, were found in each of the two sites. It was concluded that tilapia has a mean concentration of 3.1312±2.8362µg/ml, whereas elopsmachanata has the highest at 6.8618±9.8199µg/ml. For both sites, ΣOCPs revealed that the highest concentration of organochlorine is found in elopsmachanata. Whereas ΣOPPs in tilapia have values of 2.2167 and 0.2626 on locations A and B, respectively, their values in site A were 5.7358 and 0.8732. Since the contamination of fish samples was a sign of river contamination, these values exceeded the Federal Environmental Protection Agency's (FEPA) acceptable limit of ˂0.02, which suggests possible adverse effects on consumers. Statistical analysis shows no significant difference in the two species and locations.