Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. (1994) 52:825-832 9 1994 Springer-Verlag New York Inc. ~Environmental ~ Contamination ~and Toxicology Lead and Other Metals in Dried Fish from Nigerian Markets C. O. B. Okoye Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria Received: 21 July 1992/Accepted: 24 October 1993 The Nigerian economy witnessed remarkable industrial growth between 1970 and 1980 due to a large increase in crude oil sales. Since then, industrialization and urbanization have been sustained albeit at a much slower rate. Nevertheless, waste management remains grossly underdeveloped. Environmental concem is only a recent phenomenon in the country, resulting thus far in the launching of a monthly clean-up campaign in 1984 and the establishment of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) in 1988. Even then, the level of public awareness has not been encouraging in spite of enlightenment programs initiated by the FEPA and other non-govemmental organizations. The indiscriminate discharge of largely untreated factory and urban effluents has continued. Streets and home surroundings become littered again soon after the monthly clean-up exercises. Inadequate facilities contribute in no small measure to the unwholesome situation. Refuse collecting centers are mostly without any holding containers, and solid wastes, the focus of the monthly clean-up, are left on the bare ground. In addition, heavy automobile traffic and high lead content of the local automobile fuels have not helped matters. Heavy metals in the human environment have been of global concern due to known hazards caused by many, such as mercury, cadmium and lead (FAO/WHO 1972; Nauen 1983). In many developed countries, limits of concentrations in fish and other foods have been set (Nauen 1983) in order to safeguard public health. Nigeria has yet to set any standards because of the paucity of baseline data. Within the last decade, scientists have been reporting on heavy metal levels in fish from the aquatic environment of Nigeria (Fodeke 1980; Kakulu et al. 1987; Okoye 1991). Okoye (1991) reported the relative enrichment of the Lagos Lagoon fish by nine heavy metals. Among the metals, lead was the most prominent, with a mean value comparable to the set limits in Great Britain and New Zealand (Nauen 1983). The present study was aimed at further establishing the levels of contamination in fish by lead and other metals in the Nigerian aquatic systems. Smoke-dried fish, being the most consumed by the local population, was chosen for the survey on the levels of cadmium, cobalt, copper, chromium, iron, manganese, lead and zinc. Possible surface contamination adsing from observed poor handling practices was also investigated. 825