STUDY OF THE ENZYME AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF CHROMIUM III CHLORIDE IN THE FRESH WATER FISH CIRRHINUS MRIGALA

E. Dhanalakshmi and Pawlin Vasanthi Joseph*

ABSTRACT

Metals occur naturally in the earth‟s crust, and their contents in the environment can vary between different regions resulting in spatial variations of back ground concentrations. With the advent of rapid industrialization, urbanization and other developmental activities, most of the water sources are becoming contaminated and causing deleterious effects on aquatic bio-systems. The aim of the present work is to study the enzyme and histopathological effects of Chromium III chloride in the fresh water fish Cirrhinus mrigala. The LC50 at 96 hours was determined by the Probit Analysis Method. The experiment was designed to expose the fish to different sub chronic doses of Chromium III chloride. One trough served as control and four experimental troughs were maintained. Each trough was provided with 34mg/l, 36mg/l, 38mg/l and 40mg/l of chromium III chloride. Each trough contained ten fishes and the experiment was conducted in triplicate. The duration of the experiment was for 30 days. Enzymes were estimated after 30 days and the histopathology of the liver and muscle was studied. A significant decrease was observed in the levels of Alkaline phosphatase, Acid phosphatase, Lipase and Amylase. Histopathology studies showed degeneration in the liver and muscle. Most of the heavy metals are present in the edible portion of the fish. Humans may also be affected by eating fish and this can cause a few health problems.

Keywords: Chromium III chloride, Probit analysis, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, Lipase, Amylase, histopathology, LC 50.