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Abstract: Water, sediments and freshwater fishes (Labeorohita, Cyprinuscarpio, Glyptothoraxpunjabensis) werecollected from three rivers namely Jindi, Khyali (Swat) and Kabul river in District Charsadda Khyber Pakthtunhwa Pakistan. The samples were analyzed for the concentrations of seven heavy metals i.e. cobalt, chromium, copper, manganese, nickel, antimony and zinc. The metal concentration data in fishes was used to evaluate health risks for the people of Charsadda. Health risks associated with the intake of these metals were evaluated in terms of dietary intake, target hazard quotients (THQs), hazard index (HI) and target cancer risk(TR). The other metals concentrations in water samples were higher than the WHO permissible limits except copper and Zn. The THQ values for all the metals were calculated to be below 1 except for Cu and Sb. This suggested that there is no significant health hazards if a single metal from one species of fish is ingested. The target cancer risk for Ni in case three fish species was calculated to be higher than the accepted risk level. To both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic consequences the inhabitants of the area may be exposed if they consume contaminated fishes. Also there is dire need of monitoring the metal level in the fishes in this area.

Keyword: Kabul river, fishes, human health risk, Charsadda