Shreya & G. B. Chand*
Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Patna University, Patna, Bihar, India
Received : 25th July, 2023 ; Revised : 25th August, 2023
DOI:-https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12525008
Abstract– Varanasi city is considered as the spiritual capital of India. It draws the attention of Hindu pilgrims to take the holy bathe in Ganges River sacred water and perform funeral rights. Raj Ghat being the northernmost Ghat of Varanasi has recently been renovated by the state government and Varanasi municipal corporation for tourism and religious rituals. The exposure of this Ghat with heavy metals was reported to be minimal in contrast to other neighboring Ghats and Ganges River water near Varanasi. A few literatures also reported the presence of few heavy metals in the water bodies of the Ghats of Varanasi. The present study was carried out to access the bioaccumulation of selected heavy metals viz. mercury, lead and arsenic in the hepatic tissues of three predominant fish inhabitants Labeo rohita (order-Cypriniformes), Clarias batrachus (order- Siluriformes), Tilapia mossambica (order-Perciformes), as well as water and soil samples at this site. Fishes (n=18) were procured from the selected site at Raj Ghat, brought to the Central Research laboratory, Patna Women’s College, Patna, Bihar and stored at -20ºC for further AAS analysis. The soil and water samples were also collected and processed for flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The soil sample showed the presence of mercury (0.01±0.001mg/l), lead (0.002±0.003mg/l) and arsenic (0.013±0.003mg/l). The water sample showed the presence of mercury (0.04±0.0023 mg/l), lead (0.067±0.01mg/l) and arsenic (0.010±0.001 mg/l). Among the fish samples maximum accumulation of mercury was reported in the muscles of C. batrachus followed by L. rohita. Maximum accumulation of lead was reported in muscles of C. batrachus and least in T. mossambica. The maximum accumulation of arsenic was reported in muscles of L. rohita followed by C. batrachus and T. mossambica respectively. Hence, the findings of the present study reveal a higher bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the fish muscles than the permissible limit. It envisages about regular and systematic bio-monitoring and strict law implementation along with scientific awareness of the local people for mitigating heavy metals pollution load at Raj Ghat, Varanasi, U.P., India.
Key words: Ecological, Risk assessment, Heavy metals, Ganga River, Raj Ghat, Varanasi, Bioaccumulation.
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