Dietary intake of persistent organic pollutants and potential health risks via consumption of global aquatic products

Abstract

The concentration levels of typical persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) including dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs) and non-dioxin-like PCBs, organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in global aquatic products from major producing countries were summarized. Daily intakes of these compounds via consumption of various aquatic products for global consumers were also estimated based on available literature data. Risk assessment based upon existing criteria for OCPs and PBDEs shows that there is minimal risk to global consumers from consumption of aquatic products, with the exception of products from specific regions located around known heavy-point sources. Exposure to dioxins through consumption of aquatic products, excluding marine fish, is also in the range of the acceptable level, lower than 4 pg World Health Organization toxic equivalent (WHO-TEQ)/kg bw/d; however, dioxin intake via marine fish may cause hazards to human health, especially for Europeans. Regarding PCBs, there is cancer risk for global consumers via consumption of aquatic products, especially marine fish, based on cancer and noncancer hazard ratio assessment. Generally, European consumers have higher exposure levels of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs, while Americans and Asians have relatively higher exposure levels of OCPs and PCBs. In contrast, all global populations are found to have lower exposure levels of PBDEs, which may be attributed to its relatively shorter history of use compared with PCBs and OCPs. Finally, the estimated total amounts of PCBs, OCPs, and PBDEs stored in global aquatic products constitute only a small portion of the total amount that has been used, and the majority obviously occurs in other environmental media or even remains in commercial products.