Phenolic Endocrine Disruptors In Typical Consumer Fish Of South China And Human Exposure Via Fish Consumption

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals（EDCs）are defined as "exogenous Chemicals or chemical mixtures that cause hormone secretion disturbances in humans and animals".Common synthetic chemicals EDCs include alkylphenol（APs）,bisphenol（BPs and TBBPA）and other phenolic compounds.The widespread use of these EDCs has caused widespread environmental pollution.Frequently detected in water and sediments with high concentrations,EDCs are enriched in aquatic organisms through the food chain,and then enter the human body by means of dietary channels.Even at low doses,these EDCs have potential endocrine disrupting effects and can affect nervous system development.A number of studies have reported EDCs in various fish,but the research on the occurrence system of phenolic EDCs in fish is still very limited,and the relevant dietary exposure assessment data is relatively scarce,which limits the accurate assessment of the ingestion health risks of phenolic EDCs.We selected Guangdong Province,a major domestic fishery production province,as the research field,and chose 10 typical consumer species,96 samples in total,（Grass carp,Tilapia,Bighead carp,Silver carp,Striped bass,Grouper,Red drum,Snapper,Hairtail,Blue scad）from local aquatic markets and supermarkets in four cities,Shantou（Eastern Guangdong）,Maoming（Western Guangdong）,Zhongshan and Huizhou（Pearl River Delta）to make a study aiming to determine the levels and distributions of PEDCs,including 9 alkylphenols（APs）,8bisphenol compounds（7 bisphenols and tetrabromobisphenol A）,assess the potential health risks associated with fish consumption,and provide preliminary advisories on consumption of fish from China combined with dietary intake data of residents.The results showed that 4-NP,4-t-OP,4-n-NP and 4-n-OP were the main APs residues in all fish samples.The median and range of the concentrations were 56.8（4.88-480）ng/g wet weight,17.9（3.82-162）ng/g wet weight,0.26（Nd-3.88）ng/g wet weight,0.06（Nd-6.91）ng/g wet weight,respectively.BPA,BPS,BPAF and BPF are the main residues of BPs.The median and range of the concentrations were 0.51（Nd-2.19）ng/g wet weight,0.18（Nd-6.76）ng/g wet weight,0.31（Nd-0.92）ng/g wet weight,and 0.09（Nd-0.41）ng/g wet weight,respectively.TBBPA was also detected in fish samples with a median and range of 1.34（Nd-24.0）ng/g fat weight,respectively.Analysis of contamination characteristics of different fish species showed that 4-NP and 4-t-OP were more likely to accumulate in carnivorous fish,which were consumers at the high end of the food chain,while BPs and TBBPA showed no significant characteristics.There were also differences in the levels of phenolic EDCs in different regions.Higher concentrations of APs were found in Huizhou,Zhongshan and Shantou,and higher concentrations of BPs were found in Zhongshan and Maoming.TBBPA levels were similar among the four cities.The exposure assessment results showed that among all the phenolic EDCs,residents had a higher risk quotient of 4-NP and 4-t-OP from fish consumption,but not enough to pose a potential health risk to the consuming population.Children aged 9-12 in different age groups are at higher risk of ingesting EDCs,so more attention should be paid to children in the future.