Trace elements in aquatic products from Shenzhen, China and their implications for human exposure.

Aquatic organisms in industrially polluted areas can accumulate large quantities of heavy metals. To assess the resulting health risks, 11 trace elements in 184 aquatic products representing 14 species of fish, crustaceans, and bivalves collected from Shenzhen, China were determined. Aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), antimony (Sb), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The pollution levels of each product and the human health risk resulting from their consumption were then assessed. The concentrations of As in 57 % of samples and Cd in 11 % of samples exceeded the upper limits stipulated by the Chinese National Food Safety Standards (GB 2762-2017), which was mainly due to high concentrations of trace elements in crustaceans and bivalves. The Nemerow integrated pollution index indicated that the aquatic products accumulated high levels of As and Cd. Health risk assessments using the target hazard quotient (THQ) and hazard index (HI) suggested that As and Cd exposure due to consumption of aquatic products presents a potential health risk for residents of Shenzhen.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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