Toxicokinetic pattern of arsenic (as)in whole body and tissues of danio rerio exposed to as(iii) oxide

The bioaccumulation pattern of arsenic (As) in whole body and different tissues of gill, liver, and gonads of both male and female of healthy Danio rerio when exposed to a sub lethal concentration of As-water, containing one-eighth 96 hr LC50level (1.11 mg/L As2O3.) for long term experimentation has been analyzed. The As shows a maximum deposition (p<0.05) in the gill (0.91 and 0.98 µ g / g dry wt.) followed by liver (0.63 and 0.69 µ g / g dry wt.) and gonad (0.21 and 0.27 µ g / g dry wt.) of both male and female fish respectively,at the end of 60 days of exposure. The highest deposition of As was found to be 3.23 and 3.56 µg / g dry wt. in the whole body of male and female fish at 60th day of exposure respectively. Comparing the accumulation As on the both sex, it is obvious that the female showed a higher As residue in all tissue as well as whole body than the male fish. Another equally important finding is that the depuration of As by maintaining the bioaccumulated female fish (60 day exposed fish to As III oxide) in quality dechlorinated tap water reveals that there is a significant (p<0.05) reduction in As concentration in different tissues and whole body of fish as the day passes. A comparison of the performance of different tissues in respect of depuration clearly indicates that the liver and gill have taken a short period of 7 days to depurate 100% of As Whereas in ovary and whole body only the level of 81.48 and 94.10 % of As was eliminated even it took 10 days of depuration period. Among the various tissues tested, the ovary did not totally eliminate the accumulated As even after the completion of 10 days of depuration. The data constitute a reference for future studies on the evaluation of As accumulation and elimination tendency in the ecotoxicological testing scheme for hazard assessment.