LEVELS OF ANALGESICS IN CATFISH FROM IKPOBA RIVER

ABSTRACT

Fish are good indicators of aquatic environment pollution because of their capability to uptake pollutants contained in water. Therefore, accumulation of pharmaceutical compounds in freshwater and marine fish and other aquatic organisms has been studied extensively in the last decade. In this context, the present study investigates the occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in two wild fish (Clarias gariepinus and Petrocephalus bane ansorgel) form Ikpoba River. Two pharmaceuticals (out of the four compounds analyzed) were quantified in fish fillets at concentrations commonly below 10µg/ml, in accordance with the findings from previous studies. The concentration of diclofenac in Clarias gariepinus ranged from 4.9610.27 – 7.41345µg/ml, while paracetamol ranged from 0.2220 – 0.2.708 µg/ml. In Petrocephalus bane ansorgel diclofenac ranged from 4.3472 – 5.6820 µg/ml while paracetamol ranged from 0.3462 – 0.5203µg/ml. The level of caffeine and Ibuprofen were below detection limits in both fish. The concentration of diclofenac was significantly higher (p<0.05) from paracetamol in both fishes. The most important result of this study is the finding that some analgesics (Diclofenac and Paracetamol) are in use clinically, and that many of these drugs have already been reported to be present in rivers throughout the world.