We can all agree that dumping waste into the water where we get our food is a bad idea. Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening all around the world in developing countries. One such example is in Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria. Where industrial waste, batteries and even lead based paints are being dumped into the lagoon. Which is home to fish and shrimp nurseries which leads to metal fishies. That is fish, contaminated with harmful metals such as lead, arsenic, barium, copper, zinc, and cadmium. Cadmium is toxic and has a negative impact on not only the kidneys but also the cardiovascular system. While zinc at excessive levels decreases the effectiveness of the immune system and affects cholesterol metabolism. Overall, this contamination has a negative impact on not only the environment but on human health. Therefore, it is important to be more environmentally conscious as what affects the environment ultimately affects us.
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Figure 1: Shows average heavy metal concentration found in the 12 species of fish collected in Lagos Lagoon. Zinc present at elevated levels in all the fish except Caranx hippos.Which was noted to have highest concentration of manganese and cadmium.
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Original article:
Oguguah, N., Onyekachi, M., & Ikegwu, J. (2017).
Concentration and human health implications of trace metals in fish of economic
importance in lagos lagoon, nigeria. Journal of Health & Pollution, 7(13),
66-72. doi:10.5696/2156-9614-7-13.66
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