ABSTRACT

The levels of organochlorine pesticide (OCPs) resides in fish scales (Ctenopoma petherici) from Ikpoba River, Edo state, Nigeria was investigated to assess the possibility of using fish scales as potential bio indicators of pesticide exposure in fish. OCPs were determined using HPLC (High performance chromatography). Eight OCPs namely Heptachlor, o,p-DDT, γ-BHC (Lindane), p,p-DDT, Endosulfan I, Endrin, Endosulfan sulphate, and Endosulfan II were assessed. The distribution of pesticides residues in the scales were observed to have mean concentrations (µg/kg) of 0.013 for Heptachlor, 0.182 for o,p-DDT, 0.023 for γ-HCH (Lindane), 0.150 for p,p- DDT and 0.029 for Endosulfan I. Endrin, Endosulfan sulphate and Endosulfan II were absent. The percentage concentration of pesticides in the fish scales were 3.2% for Heptachlor, 5.8% for γ-HCH(Lindane), 37.7% for p,p-DDT and 7.4% for Endosulfan I. o,p-DDT was the most dominant pesticide in the fish scales accounting for 45.9% of the pesticide residue in the fish scales. These results show that the scales of fish can accumulate pesticides and can also serve as a good bio indicator of pesticide in fish.