article · Heliyon
Industrial and domestic activities continually pollute the Lagos lagoon, which supplies a notable portion of the fish consumed within the Lagos metropolis. Research evaluated the presence of heavy metals in four local fish species, namely Sarotherodon melanotheron, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, Chrysichthys gariepinus, and Ethmalosa fimbriata, to assess human health implications. While observed heavy metal concentrations and estimated daily intake levels remained below established maximum permissible limits, risk assessment models revealed potential hazards. The target hazard quotient remained below one for all tissues, but risk calculations showed that arsenic, nickel, and cadmium may present carcinogenic risks to human consumers. Consequently, regular biomonitoring of heavy metal accumulation in lagoon fish tissues is recommended for regulatory oversight.
Fish from the Lagos lagoon form an important part of the diet for local urban populations. Although overall metal levels appear safe under standard thresholds, the projected cancer risk from arsenic, cadmium, and nickel highlights hidden health threats. This underscores the need for food safety vigilance to protect urban consumers from contaminated marine food supplies.
This research provides baseline risk assessment data that could inform food safety protocols, environmental monitoring services, and regulatory testing standards. The primary users are public health authorities and environmental monitoring bodies. The findings represent applied environmental health research that is distant from commercial product development, serving instead as evidence for regulatory frameworks and routine biomonitoring programmes.
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BackgroundLagos lagoon is constantly being polluted from industrial and human activities. Fishes from Lagos lagoon contribute significant percentages of fish consumption in the Lagos metropolises. Therefore, this study evaluated heavy metal concentrations in tissues of four fish species (Sarotherodon melanotheron, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, C. gariepinus, and Ethmalosa fimbriata) from Lagos lagoons and their human health implication. Concentrations of heavy metals and potential health hazard to consumers were evaluated with reference to Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) and Cancer Risk (CR).ResultsConcentration of the heavy metals in the fish tissues was below the maximum permissible limit in fish. Similarly, the. EDI of the heavy metals in all the tissues was below the recommended allowance whereas, the. THQ estimated for the heavy metals in the tissues of the fish were less than 1. Consumption of arsenic, nickel, and cadmium in the fish might however pose carcinogenic risk.ConclusionsAlthough, the measured heavy metal concentration were within permissible limits for human consumption, the calculated health risk values indicated that Arsenic, cadmium and nickel might pose significant health risks to consumers. Therefore, biomonitoring of heavy metal accumulation in tissues of fishes must be put into consideration by regulatory authority.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21689
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