ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Environmental Exposure to Metals and
Bioaccumulation in the Liver of Three Freshwater
Species of Turtles from Two Different Rivers
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1
Department of Zoology, Government College, University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
2
Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Science, Government College,
University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
3
Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
4
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy,
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2018-03-22
Final revision date: 2018-04-30
Acceptance date: 2018-05-06
Online publication date: 2019-05-01
Publication date: 2019-05-28
Corresponding author
Shahid Mahboob
King Saud University, P.O.BOX 2455, College of Science, 11451 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2019;28(5):3299-3306
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ABSTRACT
Exposure to metals remains an important public health concern. The present study is
a comprehensive field study to determine the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd, Co, Pb and Cr in water
samples and in the livers of deceased freshwater turtles collected from pre-determined sampling sites of
the Ravi and Chenab rivers. In total, 35 deceased freshwater turtles were collected from the sampling
sites, and liver samples were collected and immediately stored at -20ºC prior to analysis. Heavy metals
concentrations of Cu, Zn and Cd (0.073, 0.169 and 0.0042 mg/L-1) in water samples were collected from
the Ravi and (0.084, 0.145 and 0.0041 mg/L-1) from the Chenab. Concentrations of Ni, Co, Pb and Cr
were significantly lower (0.045, 0.018, 0.06 and 0.121 mg/L-1) in the Ravi while (0.045, 0.018, 0.064 and
0.121 mg/L-1) in the Chenab were significantly higher. Species-wise mean concentrations of all heavy
metals were non-significant (P>0.05). The mean concentrations of Cu and Ni varied significantly
(P<0.01) in the liver samples from the Ravi and Chenab. Regardless of the sampling sites, the mean
concentrations of Cu and Pb recorded a maximum in K. Smithi (26.54±4.53 and 3.85±0.43 mg/Kg-1,
respectively) Zn in K. Tecta (42.48±4.06 mg/Kg-1) and Ni, Cd and Co in L. Punctata. Among the studied
metals, Zn was recorded as most abundant (39.73±2.28 mg Kg-1) and Cd concentration was found to be
minimum (0.188±0.017 mg Kg-1) in freshwater turtles collected from both sampling sites.