RESEARCH ARTICLE Assessment of heavy metals and metalloids in tissues of two frog species: Rana tigrina and Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis from industrial city Sialkot, Pakistan Irfan Zia Qureshi 1 & Zeshan Kashif 1 & Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi 2 & Xiaomei Su 3 & Riffat Naseem Malik 4 & Kalim Ullah 2 & Jinxing Hu 4 & Muhammad Dawood 5 Received: 9 December 2014 /Accepted: 27 March 2015 /Published online: 14 May 2015 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 Abstract In the present study, we investigated the concentra- tions of Ni, Fe, Pb, Cu, Co, Zn, Cd, Mn, and Cr in selected body tissues (liver, stomach, kidney, heart, lungs, and skeletal muscles) of two frog species: Rana tigrina and Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis captured from industrial wastewater of Sialkot city known worldwide for its tanning industry. The both frog species had darker appearance, distinctively different wet body weight, and snout-vent length. The results revealed that the heavy metal concentrations were high in the samples col- lected from industrial sites as compared to non-industrial sites. The different tissues of R. tigrina and E. cyanophlyctis exhib- ited little significant differences from two sites. The concen- trations of heavy metals were more in tissues of R. tigrina as compared to E. cyanophlyctis. Mean concentration of Cd, Fe, Ni, Mn, Cu, and Cr was comparatively greater in R. tigrina, whereas Pb and Co were higher in E. cyanophlyctis. The con- centration of Cu and Cd in the liver and kidney were relatively more in both species as compared to other organs. Further, the results indicated that frogs collected from industrial sites showed decreased body length and weight, and greater metal accumulation. The results will help the authorities for the con- servation of these frog species which are under the influence of heavy metal contamination. Keywords Heavy metals toxicity . Rana tigrina . Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis . Sialkot . Industrial pollution Introduction Like most developing countries, Pakistan has experienced rapid industrialization, urbanization, and population growth over the past two decades (Khan 1991; Zaman and Ara 2000) that has resulted into a number of environmental prob- lems as contamination of various compartments from direct/ indirect discharge of effluents (Qadir et al. 2008). Continuous flux of industrial discharge containing toxic metals into the aquatic environment, wet lands, is one of the major concerns as this practice is threatening the local ecosystem and putting its integrity at risk (Hashmi et al. 2013; Qadir and Malik 2009). Of various effluents, heavy metal contamination is of increasing concern particularly in those cities where major industries have been established (Hashmi et al. 2013). Heavy metals are non-biodegradable, persistent in nature, and tend to accumulate in animal bodies eventually leading to carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, and teratogenesis (Allen 1994; Alloway and Alloway 1995). Sialkot city is known internationally for its tanning and sport industries. Pakistan leather tanneries are Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues * Irfan Zia Qureshi irfanzia@qau.edu.pk Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi hashmi_qau@yahoo.com 1 Laboratory of Animal and Human Physiology, Department of Animal Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan 2 Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People’ s Republic of China 3 Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad PO 45320, Pakistan 4 Department of Environmental Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Multan, Pakistan 5 Department of Environmental Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Multan, Pakistan Environ Sci Pollut Res (2015) 22:14157–14168 DOI 10.1007/s11356-015-4454-2