Total mercury distribution in different tissues of six species of freshwater fish from the Kpong hydroelectric reservoir in Ghana |
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Authors: | Alhassan Atta Ray Bright Voegborlo Eric Selorm Agorku |
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Institution: | (1) Chemistry Department, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; |
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Abstract: | Total mercury concentrations were determined in seven tissues of 38 fish samples comprising six species from the Kpong hydroelectric
reservoir in Ghana by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry technique using an automatic mercury analyzer. Mercury concentration
in all the tissues ranged from 0.005 to 0.022 μg/g wet weight. In general, the concentration of mercury in all the tissues
were decreasing in the order; liver > muscle > intestine > stomach > gonad > gill > swim bladder. Mercury concentration was
generally greater in the tissues of high-trophic-level fish such as Clarotes laticeps, Mormyrops anguilloides and Chrysichthys aurutus whereas low-trophic-level fish such as Oreochromis niloticus recorded low mercury concentration in their tissues. The results obtained for total mercury concentration in the muscle tissues
analysed in this study are below the WHO/FAO threshold limit of 0.5 μg/g. This suggests that the exposure of the general public
to Hg through fish consumption can be considered negligible. |
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