Occurrence and health risk of legacy and emerging halogenated flame retardants in seafood from the Beibu Gulf, China

Abstract

Due to high industrialization and urbanization, the offshore areas may be contaminated with halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) by human activities. Seafood is a significant part of the human diet, especially for people living near the coast, and has been identified as a significant source of human exposure to HFRs. This study investigated the occurrence, composition, and dietary exposure to HFRs in seafood by analyzing samples (fish, shrimp, crab, and mollusk) collected from three provinces surrounding the Beibu Gulf, China. The concentrations of Σ₁₄PBDEs ranged from 1.36 to 145.1 ng/g dry weight (dw), with Portunus trituberculatus and Harpiosquilla harpax having the highest and lowest concentrations, respectively. Among the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) congeners analyzed, BDE 209 was the most abundant. The levels of decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE), 1, 2-bis (2, 4, 6 tribromophenoxy) ethane (BTBPE), dechlorane plus (DP), and bis (2-ethylhexyl) 2, 3, 4, 5-tetrabromophthalate (TBPH) in seafood varied from not detected (ND) to 92.6 ng/g dw, ND to 696 ng/g dw, ND to 13.2 ng/g dw, and ND to 0.49 ng/g dw, respectively. The concentrations of the emerging HFRs (EHFRs) found in fish were significantly higher than in other bio-samples. Moreover, DBDPE was identified as the primary EHFR across all seafood samples. Fish and mollusks were the primary sources of ΣEHFRs and ΣPBDEs for overall local seafood consumption. According to the health risk assessment of PBDEs, the consumption of seafood in the Beibu Gulf does not pose a significant non-carcinogenic health risk to the residents.