Evaluation of water quality and toxicity after exposure of lead nitrate in fresh water fish, major source of water pollution

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the water quality, genotoxicity, histopathological changes in the gill, liver and kidney of common carp, Cyprinus carpio, after exposure to lead nitrate. The fishes were divided into six groups and were treated with different concentrations of lead nitrate. After 96 hrs, the gill, liver and kidney tissue samples were collected and histological analysis was carried out. Water samples were analysed after 96 hrs of treatment. The main histopathological changes observed were swollen gill, degeneration of lamella, hepatocytes and enlarged space of Bowman’s capsule. The result revealed that the percentage of micronuclei frequencies increased significantly with the increase of the doses. Our findings suggest that common carp exposed to lead nitrate develop genotoxicity. Hence, long-term exposure to higher concentrations of lead nitrate could seriously affect the health status of fish. The results clearly illustrate that the lead nitrate affected not only Cyprinus carpio but also the quality of water. Keywords: Lead nitrate toxicity, Cyprinus carpio, Histology, Genotoxicity, Alkalinity of water