Impact of Water Pollution on Trophic Transfer of Fatty Acids in Fish, Microalgae, and Zoobenthos in the Food Web of a Freshwater Ecosystem.

This research work was carried out to determine the effects of water contamination on the fatty acid (FA) profile of periphyton, zoobenthos, two Chinese carps and a common carp ( and ), captured from highly polluted (HP), less polluted (LP), and non-polluted (NP) sites of the Indus river. We found that the concentration of heavy metals in the river water from the polluted locations exceeded the permissible limits suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Fatty acid profiles in periphyton, zoobenthos, , , and in the food web of river ecosystems with different pollution levels were assessed.