Basooma Anthony, Teunen Lies, Semwanga Nathan, Bervoets Lieven
Department of Biology, Laboratory of Systemic, Physiological and Ecotoxicological Research, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan, 171 2020, Antwerp, Belgium.
Capture Fisheries & Biodiversity Conservation Program, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, P.O. Box, 343, Jinja, Uganda.
Heliyon. 2021 Nov 8;7(11):e08327. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08327. eCollection 2021 Nov.
The distribution of metals in the Rwizi River ecosystem was investigated and human health risks were assessed. Samples of water, sediment, damselfly larvae () and fish species ( and were collected at six sites. In all samples the trace elements As, Al, Au, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb, Zn, were quantified. Sediment samples near the gold mine had significantly higher concentrations of Hg, Fe and Al although all the concentrations were below the probable effect concentrations (PEC). The dissolved concentrations of trace metals were within the European standards and WHO drinking water guidelines. However, Fe and Mn concentrations exceeded the standards at three sites. The damselfly larvae were good indicators of local metal pollution. The fish species accumulated metal levels in the order gills > liver > muscle for most metals except for Hg. Multiple regressions between accumulated metals in damselfly with environmental metal levels showed only for Au and Cd significant positive relationships. Relating environmental metal levels and physicochemical characteristics to the levels in the invertebrates, only for Cu and Pb significant relationships were found. With respect to the measured metals, the fish were safe for human consumption in most cases although posed a potential health risk due to a As hazard quotient (HQ) of 2.2 that exceeded the critical value of 1. Similarly, the maximum edible risk-free quantity (Q) for As in was 1.5 g (95 % CI), less than the minimum risk free quantity of 31.5 g. In conclusion, the river water was safe for drinking but the extraction of gold using Hg should be replaced with an environmentally friendly method or an effective wastewater treatment should be instituted. People should be cautioned from consuming to avoid potential health hazards.
对鲁济河生态系统中的金属分布进行了调查，并评估了对人类健康的风险。在六个地点采集了水、沉积物、豆娘幼虫（ ）和鱼类物种（ 和 ）的样本。在所有样本中，对微量元素砷（As）、铝（Al）、金（Au）、镉（Cd）、钴（Co）、铜（Cu）、铁（Fe）、汞（Hg）、锰（Mn）、铅（Pb）、锌（Zn）进行了定量分析。金矿附近的沉积物样本中汞、铁和铝的浓度明显更高，尽管所有浓度均低于可能效应浓度（PEC）。痕量金属的溶解浓度符合欧洲标准和世界卫生组织饮用水准则。然而，在三个地点铁和锰的浓度超过了标准。豆娘幼虫是当地金属污染的良好指示生物。除汞外，大多数金属在鱼类物种中的积累水平顺序为鳃＞肝脏＞肌肉。豆娘体内积累的金属与环境金属水平之间的多元回归分析表明，仅金和镉存在显著的正相关关系。将环境金属水平和理化特性与无脊椎动物体内的金属水平相关联，仅发现铜和铅存在显著关系。就所测金属而言，大多数情况下鱼类可供人类安全食用，尽管 由于砷的危害商（HQ）为2.2，超过了临界值1，存在潜在健康风险。同样， 中砷的最大无风险食用量（Q）为1.5克（95%置信区间），低于最低无风险量31.5克。总之，河水可安全饮用，但应采用环保方法替代使用汞提取黄金，或建立有效的废水处理措施。应提醒人们不要食用 ，以避免潜在的健康危害。
