Abstract

In Nigeria, a combination of agrochemicals is being used for crop improvement in order to meet the growing demand for food. This trend, however, is cause for concern because undetermined proportions of agrochemicals used on agricultural lands have been reported to enter the aquatic environment via drain, runoff, and spray drifts, contaminating the environment. Aquatic animals are reported to be sensitive to a wide range of toxicants in water. The effects of profenofos, cypermethrin, and NPK (15:15:15) fertilizer mixtures on some hematology parameters of African Catfish juveniles are investigated in this study. This experiment used 384 fish weighing between 40 and 60 grams. The fish were subjected to acute and chronic toxicity tests. For a 56-day exposure, different groups were treated with varying sub-lethal values of 0.00mg/L, 0.003mg/L, 0.010mg/L, and 0.018mg/L of the test compound, and results showed a decrease in RBC, Hb, PCV, MCH, MCV, and MCHC at P<0.05, implying that the toxicants may have inhibited the Hb biosynthetic, negatively impacting the ability to carry oxygen by the blood. WBC values increased significantly, indicating an improvement in the fish defense mechanism. As a result, this study provides insight into the toxic effect of a mixture of profenofos, cypermethrin, and NPK fertilizer on fish and advocates for a more cautious approach to the use of these agrochemicals on farms.

Full-Text (PDF)