title: Impact of tannery effluents on the aquatic environment of the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
abstract: This study presents an overview of the existence and effects of six heavy metals, chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), and aluminum (Al), in tannery effluents released to the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The pollutants were found in three different sources, such as effluents from tanneries, contaminated river water and three species of fish-climbing perch (Anabas testudineus), spotted snakehead (Channa punctata), and Black tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) caught from the river. Tannery effluents, water, and fish samples were collected from three different factories, five sample stations, and three different harvesting points, respectively. Effluents from all three factories contained significant amounts of heavy metals, especially Cr (374.19 ppm in average), whereas lesser amounts were found in the tissues of the three fish species studied. The trends in tissue elemental concentrations of fish were Cr > Pb > Al > Hg > Mn > Cd. In most cases (Cr, Cd, Mn, and Al), heavy metal concentrations were found to be greater in climbing perch than in Black tilapia and spotted snakehead. Although the river water contained high concentrations of harmful heavy metals, the fish species under study had concentrations well below the permissible Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization levels for those metals and seemed to be safe for human consumption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh zlikhon2010@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asaduzzaman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh Laboratory of Glycobiology and Marine Biochemistry, Department of Life and Environmental System Science, Graduate School of NanoBio Sciences, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Imtiaj
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Science, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Sultana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajia
authors.affiliation: WorldFish Center, Bangladesh and South Asia Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Nazneen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: WorldFish Center, Bangladesh and South Asia Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Kazi Ahmed
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kabir
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D001459:Bangladesh; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D002857:Chromium / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008345:Manganese / Q000032:analysis; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013633:Tanning; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002104:Cadmium; D002857:Chromium; D007854:Lead; D008345:Manganese; D000535:Aluminum; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Heavy metals; fish; tannery effluents; toxicity; water pollution