Acute Toxicity of Multi-Active Detergent on African Giant Catfish (Heterobranchus bidorsalis) Juveniles

Haematological and Histological parameter of Heterobranchus bidorsalis juveniles (16.12±0.45g) were analysed to determine if they are influenced by multi-active detergent.The exposure period lasted 96 hours. Haemoglobin (Hb), Pack Cell Volume (PCV), Red Blood Cell (RBC), White Blood Cell (WBC), Mean Corpuscular Volume(MCV), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Content (MCHC) and histological study of the gills, liver and kidney were analysed to determine the influence of the detergent on H.bidorsalis juveniles. The LC50 was determined using probit analysis. The value obtained for PCV, Hb, RBC, and MCV decreased significantly with increase in concentrations (0.0,40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 mg/l) of detergent and duration of exposure, while WBC,MCHC and MCH increased with increase in detergent concentrations. Filament degeneration, mucosal congestion, fragmentation of nuclear chromatin,severe congestion of haemorrhage, vacuole formation,degeneration of hepatocytes, severe portal and central venous congestion were noticed in gills, liver and kidney of the test organisms in all the concentrations of detergent. The LC50 was 44.9 mg/l.Normal tissues were observed in all the fish from the control experiment (0.0). The differences observed in haematological and histological parameters of H. bidorsalis indicated that ‘Omo multi-active’ detergent was toxic to the test organisms .The implication is if such fish are consumed by man, it could be dangerous to human’s health and it could be cancerous. Keywords: Haematology, Histopathology, Heterobranchus bidorsalis, Multi-active detergent, LC50.