Adverse effect of chromium (VI) on genotoxicity, histology of brain and behavioral patterns of fish Channa punctatus (Bloch, 1793)

Abstract

Nearly all of India's regions' water sources endure an intolerable burden of harmful pollution. Aquatic contamination is a result of waste product discharge and anthropogenic waste runoff. The environment has turned into a repository for chemical contaminants that seep into estuaries and other aquatic environments, immobilising the aquatic biota, including heavy metals. Heavy metals like chromium can be both helpful and destructive to living things. It is both highly carcinogenic and poisonous. Chemical contaminants are released into the water by numerous enterprises. Chromium is among the many contaminants present in these disposals. Because Channa punctatus is a readily available and popularly consumed freshwater fish, it was selected as the test species. The experiment was conducted over the course of 28 days in 4 distinct aquariums, 3 of which contained chromium at various concentrations (Group 2-LC 50 /5; 20 mg/l, Group 3-LC 50 /10; 10 mg/l, and Group 4-LC 50 /20; 5 mg/l), and one aquarium (Group 1) served as the control. With an increase in the concentration of the heavy metal, the exposed fish exhibited more irregular swimming and became sluggish. Moreover, chromosome damage induced by chromium exposure increased the production of micronuclei in the interphase cells and increased the toxicant concentration. The findings indicated that acute chromium toxicity has a significant negative impact on normal histology of brain, genotoxicity and normal behaviour, which may be harmful to the fish population and ultimately to humans who eat fish.