Bioaccumulation of Personal Care Products in the Plasma of Wild Fish from the Dongjiang River and the Associated Risks

Abstract

The concentrations of 24 personal care products in the plasma of 32 wild fish collected from the 8 typical regions of the Dongjiang River were detected and the speciation and bioaccumulation potency and risk of the 24 targets were also analyzed. 13 personal care products ingredients were found in the plasma of fish, with the concentrations ranging from < MQLs to 208 ng/mL (triclosan). The N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide, methylparaben and galaxolide were found in the fish collected from each of 8 sampling sites, and the detection frequencies of all these chemicals were higher than 90%. The 4 parabens and triclosan mainly exist in the plasma of fish with the conjugated (glucuronide or sulfate metabolites) forms. The tonalide, galaxolide, triclocarban and triclosan were more likely to be accumulated, with the logarithm values of bioaccumulation factors (lg BAFs) ranging from 2.43 to 4.25 in fish plasma; the climbazole and benzotriazole were less likely to be accumulated, with the lg BAFs ranging from 0.35 to 1.99. The result of risk assessment indicated that the tonalide was identified as a major chemical, with the effect ratio (ER) lower than 1; galaxolide, benzotriazole and triclosan were recognized as the medium risk chemicals, with ER lower than 10. The potential biological and ecological risks of these chemicals should be attended to in the future study.