Assessment of Some Heavy Metals in Fishand Water Samples from Oguta Lake, Imo State, Nigeria

Evaluation of some heavy metal in fish and water samples from Oguta Lake, Imo State was carried out for three months from October to December, 2023, to examine the levels of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium and zinc, in water and muscle of three different fish species namely; Citharinus citharus (Moonfish), Distichodus rostratus (Grass eater) and Clarias gariepinus (African Catfish) from Oguta Lake. Imo State, Nigeria. The fish and water samples were digested and analyzed using a Varian AA240 Fast Sequential Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to reveal significant differences in the measured variables. The results obtained indicated that the heavy metals concentrations in the fish and water were found to be within the permissible limits set by the World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization. The overall concentrations of heavy metals in the fish species were ranked as follows; Zinc>mercury>lead>arsenic>cadmium. The overall concentrations of heavy metals in the water samples were ranked as follows; Mercury>lead>arsenic>cadmium>lead. Thus, the study revealed that there is very low heavy metal pollution in these fish species sampled from Oguta Lake and the consumption of the available fish species in the river may not be harmful to human beings.