Vol. 8, Issue 4 (2019)

Author(s):
Satarupa Ghosh, Prasanna Pal, Jayati Adhikary and Bipul Kumar Das

Abstract:
Every day a good amount of fish and fish products are being purchased and consumed without knowing the pollution threat of heavy metals from them. The aim of our study was to assess the pollution status in terms of Lead (Pb) accumulation in a common shellfish namely Penaeus monodon (tiger prawn). For that purpose samples were collected from Sealdah (SDH), Garia (GRA) and Sonarpur (SNP) fish markets around Kolkata of West Bengal, India from November 2016 to April 2017 and the bioaccumulation of Pb in different tissues was analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The maximum concentration of Pb in meat, shell and the whole body of prawn was 10.00μg/g, 10.620μg/g and 17.290μg/g respectively. Though the level of this metal in this shellfish was below the prescribed permissible limits, the cumulative effect of all the heavy metals together can be harmful. So, it is the time to make people conscious about the possible damage from heavy metal contamination in fish and to prepare them to overcome future threats for their sustenance.