Bioaccumulation and potential risk of organophosphate flame retardants in coral reef fish from the Nansha Islands, South China Sea

Abstract

Organophosphate flame retardant (OPFR) pollution in marine environment has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Coral reefs are regarded as significant marine ecosystems, however, research on OPFR contamination in coral reefs is limited. In the present work, 9 OPFR compounds were analyzed in fish samples collected from the Zhubi Reef and Yongshu Reef of the Nansha Islands, South China Sea, to evaluate the biomagnification and potential threats of OPFRs in the coral reef ecosystems. ∑OPFR concentrations in the coral reef fish ranged from 38.7 to 2090 ng/g lipid weight (lw), with an average of 420 ± 491 ng/g lw. Alkyl OPFRs were more abundant than chlorinated OPFRs and aryl OPFRs. Individually, TBEP and TCPP were the two most abundant OPFR compounds. Biomagnification potential was indicated for TCPP, TCEP, TBP, TBEP and TEHP along the marine food web, with trophic magnification factors being greater than one. The estimated dietary intakes of OPFRs via coral fish consumption were 0–1.11 ng/kg bw/d and 0.01–2.06 ng/kg bw/d, respectively, for rural and urban residents. Additionally, the hazard quotients of OPFR compounds ranged from 2 × 10−7 to 7.41 × 10−5 for rural residents and from 4 × 10−7 to 1.37 × 10−4 for urban residents. Although the risk to human health from exposure to OPFRs via consuming coral reef fish from the South China Sea was low, further investigation of these chemicals is still recommended.