Metal Contamination in Fish

Metal Contamination in Fish

Introduction

Many studies have shown that fish consumed by humans are contaminated by metals. Tests have shown that these metals are present in the tissues without causing death to the fish. These fish are then consumed by humans; thus, humans are actually contaminating themselves with these metals that are hazardous. The metals that were discovered in higher quantities are iron, zinc, and lead. The article “The metal uptake and accumulation in fish living in polluted waters” stresses the issues with metal contamination in fish.

The reason for this issue is the release of metal contaminations in the environment by the industrial sector. Therefore, fish caught the regions close to industrial sectors have a higher concentration of toxic chemicals. Metals in water occur in the soluble or particulate form. The metals in the form of compounds pose the greatest danger to fish. The rise in the sea temperature has made the issue even worse as it has increased the rate of metal absorption.

This is a major issue as it has spread all over the world. Samples collected from juvenile fish have also shows high amounts of metals. Therefore, it shows that this contamination is spreading to offspring's of fish from their parents. This finding has proved the critical nature of this issue because reversing it can take centuries of efforts and even then it cannot be suggested that these metals will be completely eliminated from the tissues of fish (Norris & Lake, 1984).

A problem with fish being infected by metals is that when larger fish consume smaller ones, they too get infected. In this way the chain is spreading at a rapid pace and fishes in almost every part of the world is infected by metal poisoning.

Discussion

This article shows how the environment plays an important part in the ...