Journal of Fisheries & Livestock Production
Open Access

Research Article

Preliminary Assessment of Heavy Metal Concentrations in Selected Fish Feed Ingredients in Nigeria

¹Fisheries Department, Lagos State University, PMB 001, Lagos, Nigeria

²Biochemistry Department Lagos State University, PMB 001, Lagos, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author:

Adeniji CA
Fisheries Department, Lagos State University
PMB 001, Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: +234 813 322 8723
E-mail: comfortadeniji@yahoo.com

Received Date: January 17, 2017; Accepted Date: January 31, 2017; Published Date: February 05, 2017

Citation: Adeniji CA, Okedeyi OO (2017) Preliminary Assessment of Heavy Metal Concentrations in Selected Fish Feed Ingredients in Nigeria. J Fisheries Livest Prod 5: 218 doi: 10.4172/2332-2608.1000218

Copyright: © 2017 Adeniji CA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Dearth of information exist on the heavy metal concentration (HM) of local fish feed ingredients in Nigeria, thus preliminary investigation on the concentration of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) (toxic heavy metals), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr) (essential trace metals) present in some selected feed ingredients. The two toxic metals; lead and cadmium were found in fishmeal at the concentration of 0.30 mg/kg each. Cd content in soybean meal, groundnut cake, maize and soybean cake were 0.01, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 mg/kg respectively. Chromium was not detected in soybean cake and maize. Soybean meal and fishmeal had the same chromium content of 0.20 mg/kg, while highest concentration of chromium (1.00 mg/kg) was found in groundnut cake. Maize had the highest copper content of 1.00 mg/kg, groundnut cake 0.40 mg/kg, followed by 0.21 mg/kg in soybean cake and lowest concentration of 0.20 mg/kg was found in both soybean meal and maize. Fish meal had the highest zinc content of 1.70 mg/kg, followed by 0.91 mg/kg in maize and 0.90 mg found in soybean cake and meal, while groundnut cake had the least zinc content of 0.70 mg/kg. The values of the heavy metal content of the selected feed ingredients are far below fish’s requirement for essential metals (copper, zinc and chromium). The results seem to buttress the need to fortify fish’s feed with these essential metals from other sources. Otherwise fish and human the ultimate consumer may be predisposed to assimilation and bioaccumulation of cadmium and lead which are chemical analogues of zinc; especially with the current use of exogenous enzymes which may improve nutrient bioavailability.

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