| Environmental pollution caused by trace elements has aroused widespreadconcern around the world. In biochemistry, trace elements generally can be classifiedas essential trace elements, such as zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) andchromium (Cr), and non-essential trace elements, such as mercury (Hg), arsenic(As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). Exposure to non-essential trace elements, evenat low concentrations over a long time period, is harmful to organisms. Excessexposure of organisms to such elements may result in toxic effects.In this study, the concentrations of the aforementioned eight trace elements weredetermined including18types of animal-based foods (7types of freshwater fish,4types of marine fish,3types of shellfish, and4types of meat in a total of171samples)purchased from markets in Shanghai, and a total of198samples including24fishspecies collected from Taihu Lake, China. In samples from Shanghai markets, theresults showed that except for a few of the elements being not detected in somesamples, most of the elements have been detected with the concentration ranges fromnot detected to1097μg/g dw (dry weight). The concentrations of the trace elementsin the different types of food items varied. The concentrations of the trace elementsfollowed the sequence of Fe> Zn> Mn> Cr> Pb> As> Hg> Cd. Trace elementconcentrations in different types of food followed the order of shellfish> meat>freshwater fish> marine fish. To compare the total trace element accumulation levelsamong various species, the metal pollution index (MPI) was used. Clam (MPI=1.61)accumulated the highest level of the total trace elements, and Wuchang fish (MPI=0.315) contained the lowest. Compared to animal-based food from other regions, thefood from Shanghai showed a moderate contamination. In samples from Taihu lake,the trace elements were detected in all samples, and the total mean concentrationsranged from18.2to216μg/g dw. The concentrations of the trace elements followedthe sequence of Zn> Fe> Mn> Cr> As> Hg> Pb> Cd. Toxabramis swinhonis (MPI=1.61) accumulated the highest level of the total trace elements, andSaurogobio dabryi (MPI=0.315) contained the lowest. Trace element concentrationsin different types of food followed the order of omnivorous fish> carnivorous fish>herbivorous fish. The measured trace element concentrations in fish from Taihu Lakewere similar to or lower than the reported values in fish around the world.Finally, to assess the human health risk via the food consumption, pollutant levelassessment, exposure assessment, and health risk assessment(including thecarcinogenic risk and non-carcinogenic risk assessment) methods were used，thepotential health risk for consumption of these animal-based foods was assessed. Inaddition, to more accurate assess the risk, the notion of bioaccessibility of the traceelements were added into the estimation from the published literature. The studyshowed that none of the trace elements in all samples have not exceeded the anystandard, which suggested that the food from Taihu lake and Shanghai markets havenot been seriously polluted. Trace elements would not exceed the the health thresholdspecified by WHO via consumption the animal-based food such as fish, molluscs andmeat. It indicated that excessive intake of trace elements would not occur within thelocal residents owing to consume these food. The HQ values of non-carcinogenic riskcaused by each toxic trace element is from0.001to0.138, all values were lower than1. The THQ values of5toxic elements followed the order of As> Pb> Cr> Hg> Cd.There is a possible long-term carcinogenic risk via As to the residents. After thebioaccessibility being added into the calculation, all the risk values were decreased. |
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