Human Dietary Intake of Metals through Fish Consumption in Bayelsa, Nigeria: Swali Market-River Nun, Case Study

Thirty-three samples belonging to five fish families were investigated for metal load with a view to determining the health implications on infants, children and adults in Yenegoa where the fish samples were collected. The metal analysis was done using X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF); dietary intake and health impact were calculated for metals using the Estimated Dietary Intake (EDI) and Hazard Index (HI) respectively. The study revealed that the family Cichlidae had the highest metal load (513.20 mg/kg) followed by Synodontidae (303.97 mg/kg), Mormyridae (278.99 mg/kg), Mugilidae (278.33 mg/kg) and Cyprinidae (229.43 mg/kg). The difference between the metal load for each family was statistically significant at P<0.05. For metal species, the order from the highest to the lowest was Fe>Zn>Cr>Ni>Mn>Cu>Ba>V>Pb>Cd>As>Hg corresponding to mean values of 137.79, 60.59, 25.03, 18.86, 18.25, 18.12, 10.31, 8.71, 2.29, 2.12, 0.55, 0.15 mg/kg respectively. The EDI showed that seven (7) metals for adults and six (6) metals for children out of the twelve (12) metals in the study were above the limit set by United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and FAO/WHO. The HI revealed that eight (8) out of the twelve (12) metals studied were >1for both children and adults while infants had just three (3) metals >1. This calls for serious concern for consumers of fish in Yenegoa and may also be indicative of some high level of water and sediment pollution in the surrounding waters.