Levels and health risk assessment of potential toxic elements in three dominant fish species from the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea

Qiongyuan Su; Caiguang Wang; Liangliang Huang; Asfandyar Shahab; Jiayang He; Yanan Cheng; Hao Xu; Yunrong Yan; Bin Kang

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115566

Levels and health risk assessment of potential toxic elements in three dominant fish species from the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea

Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Nov:196:115566. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115566. Epub 2023 Sep 21.

Authors

Qiongyuan Su¹, Caiguang Wang¹, Liangliang Huang², Asfandyar Shahab¹, Jiayang He³, Yanan Cheng¹, Hao Xu⁴, Yunrong Yan⁵, Bin Kang⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China.
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China; Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center for Water Pollution Control and Water Safety in Karst Areas, Guilin 541004, China. Electronic address: llhuang@glut.edu.cn.
³ Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center for Water Pollution Control and Water Safety in Karst Areas, Guilin 541004, China.
⁴ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control Theory and Technology, Guilin 541004, China.
⁵ College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong 524088, China.
⁶ College of Fisheries, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong 266100, China.

PMID: 37741108
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115566

Abstract

In this study, eight potential toxic elements (PTEs) and stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) were analyzed in three dominant fish species of the Beibu Gulf, namely Saurida tumbil, Pennahia macrocephalus and Upeneus sulphureus. The mean contents (mg/kg, dry weight) of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in the three species of fish were 10.94, 0.11, 0.55, 2.00, 5.80, 0.47, 0.39, 41.70, respectively. Cr, Mn and Pb showed potential biomagnification effects in fish bodies while Cu and Zn were biodiluted through the food chain. The results of the health risk assessment showed that the total hazard quotient (THQ) ranged from 0.11 to 0.32 and 1.34 to 1.70 and the total carcinogenic risk (TCR) ranged from 5.44 × 10^-4 to 1.35 × 10^-3 and 6.35 × 10^-3 to 1.57 × 10^-2 for adults and children, respectively. These results suggest that consumption of the three fish species by adults lead to carcinogenic health risks and consumption of the three fish species by children would result in significant adverse health effects.

Keywords: Health assessment; Pennahia macrocephalus; Potential toxic element; Saurida tumbil; Stable isotope ratios; Upeneus sulphureus.

MeSH terms

Adult
Animals
Child
China
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Fishes
Humans
Lead
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Risk Assessment

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Lead