The environmental concern in mining areas is primarily related to spilled mine tailings, emitted dust, and acid mine drainage (AMD) transported into aquatic ecosystems. Heavy metals are highly persistent and non-biodegradable contaminants that have been reported to cause toxic effects in animals and might be bioaccumulated through food chain to hazardous levels,thus posing potential health risks to the local inhabitants by fish consumption.

The objective of this research is to assess the impact of the long-term Dabaoshan mining operation on heavy metal accumulation in different fish species. Heavy metal accumulation (lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu)) in four tissues (liver, muscle, intestine, and gills) of five carp species (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, Megalobrama amblycephala, Aristichthys nobilis, and Carassius auratus auratus) from several fishponds exposed to effluent waters from Dabaoshan mine, South China. Levels of heavy metals varied depending on the analyzed tissues. C. auratus auratus accumulated the higher Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu in the intestine compared with other fish species. Liver of all five species contained high concentrations of Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu. Concentrations of Pb in the muscle of five fish species were above national and FAO maximum permissible levels (MPL) in 68 % of muscle samples, and above EU MPL in 95 % of analyzed samples. Muscle Cd concentrations of C. idellus and C. auratus auratus also exceeded the legal limits; specifically, 28 % of Cd concentrations of muscle samples exceeded the prescribed national MPL. Risk assessments suggested that potential human health risk may be present due to high Pb and Cd concentration in the muscle of some fish species exceeding the national and international limits, although the target hazard quotients were less than one.

These work have been published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research (Zhuang et al., 2013; DOI: 10.1007/s11356-013-1606-0) and Fresenius Environmental Bulle(Zhuang et al., 2013).