Abstract

In order to determine the contents of lead, cadmium and zinc, the tissues of the crussian carp, Carassius carassius, collected from the middle streams of the Nakdong river were examined. During the dry season from 8 to 15, March, 1987, six loci were selected to sample the fish and river water; five of them were the midstreams of the Nakdong river i.e., the vicinities of the Andong dam, the Nakdong bridge, the Waegwan bridge, Gangjung and Gaepori, the other one was the Kumho river around the Paldal bridge(see Fig.1). The microanalyses of lead and cadmium contents were undertaken by the atomic absorption spectrophotometer(Model IL-551) connected with CTF-IL 655, while that of zinc by the flame method with IL-551 only. The contents of lead and cadmium in water sampled from Gaepori distant from about 30km downward from the junction with the Kumho river were about 1.5 times higher than those from Gangjung distant about 0.5km upward from the junction, and the content of zinc from Gaepori was slightly higher than that from Gangjung. However, the contents of lead and cadmium in water sampled from Gaepori were three fifth of those from the vicinity of Paldal bridge far about 2km upperward from the junction. In the other words, the contents of lead and cadmium in the samples from the vicinity of the Paldal bridge were about 2.5 to 3 times higher than those from the Gangjung and 5 times higher than those from the Andong dam. The contents of the heavy metals in the tissues of Carassius carassius were relatively consistent to those of the aquatic environments were the fish were collected, with higher contents in the tissues of the crussian carp collected from the vicinity of Gaepori and the Paldal bridge which were so much polluted than in those from other loci in upper stream from the junction. And the contents of lead and cadmium in tissues were positively correlated with the age of the fish, however, that zinc was not. The contents of lead in bone of crussian carp from the vicinity of the Paldal bridge in the group of 0-1 year old fish were similar to those of 4-5 years old fish from Gaepori, and higher than those of 3-4 years old fish collected from the upper stream of the junction. It is likely that fishing from Gaepori and the paldal bridge is not recommended, and all the industrial producers have to pay intensive attention to the water pollution due to the sewage disposal.

• Keywords: LeadCadmiumZincBoneMuscleFinCarsssius carassiusMiddle Stream of Nakdong RiverKorea