Preliminary health risk assessment for polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated dibenzo- p-dioxins/furans in seafood from Guangzhou and Zhoushan, China

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 2008, Vol.57 (6), p.357-364
• Main Authors: Miyake, Yuichi, Jiang, Qinting, Yuan, Wang, Hanari, Nobuyasu, Okazawa, Tsuyoshi, Wyrzykowska, Barbara, So, Man Ka, Lam, Paul K.S., Yamashita, Nobuyoshi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; China; Decapoda; Dioxins - metabolism; Eating; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Food Contamination - prevention & control; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Furans - metabolism; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; Health risk assessment; Health Status Indicators; Humans; Hydrocarbons, Brominated - metabolism; Marine; Marine and brackish environment; Phenyl Ethers - metabolism; Polybrominated Biphenyls - metabolism; Polybrominated dibenzo- p-dioxins and dibenzofurans; Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; Risk Assessment; Sea water ecosystems; Seafood - analysis; Seafood consumption; Synecology; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.03.009

Dietary intake is one of the important routes of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The use of PBDEs may also result in exposure to polybrominated dibenzo- p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDDs/DFs), as these compounds are impurities in technical mixtures of BFRs and can also be formed unintentionally by the same processes that generate chlorinated dioxins. This study determined the concentrations of polybrominated compounds in common seafood in Guangzhou and Zhoushan, and assessed the health risks of these chemicals via consumption of contaminated seafood. Seafood samples (fish, bivalves, shrimp, crab, and cephalopods) purchased from local markets in 2003 and 2004 were analyzed for PBDEs and PBDDs/DFs. The highest concentration of total PBDEs (46.3 ng g −1 lipid wt.) was detected in fish from Guangzhou, in which BDEs 47 and 209 were the two predominant congeners. The total daily intakes of PBDEs, PBDDs, and PBDFs were, 946, 6.39, and 6.54 pg kg −1 body weight (bw) in Guangzhou, and 489, 4.99, and 7.65 pg kg −1 bw in Zhoushan, respectively. The hazard ratios for PBDDs and PBDFs were both greater than unity, indicating that these compounds may pose some health risks to the local population.