Bioaccumulation characteristics of typical pollutants in seafood from coastal waters of Jiangsu, China

Abstract

With the increasing human activities, marine ecosystems and biodiversity are under serious threat, in particular, pollutants in the environment can be enriched in organisms and transmitted along the food chain, potentially posing a health risk to humans. Accordingly, with the common economic swimming animals in the coastal waters of Jiangsu as the research samples, this study analyzed the content and distribution characteristics of typical pollutants (heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) enriched in their bodies, and assessed their dietary exposure and health risks to humans. We showed that the bioaccumulation capacity of swimming animals for Zn and Cu was high, with the lowest accumulated content of Hg, and that crustaceans were more easily enriched with heavy metals than fish. The overall evaluation results showed that the heavy metal content in Jiangsu coastal swimming animals was relatively safe, but the health risk of some swimming animals was high and warranted certain attention. Additionally, PAHs was more enriched in inshore swimming animals than in marine ranch area and was consistent with the enrichment characteristics of swimming animals for heavy metals, with crustaceans being more enriched in PAHs. PAHs in swimming animals had the highest proportion of 2–3 ring PAHs, accounting for 75.82%, and their incremental lifetime carcinogenic risks (ILCR) in swimming animals were all within the acceptable risk values. These findings shed light on the effects of typical pollutants on swimming animals in the coastal waters of Jiangsu, provide a scientific basis for accurately assessing the effects of marine environmental pollution on marine fishery resources and food quality and safety, and contribute to new data support for regional fisheries management and environmental pollution monitoring.