Abstract
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) levels in four commonly consumed smoked fish species from markets in Southern Nigeria were assessed to evaluate possible human health risks associated with consumption. Varying levels of PAH congeners were observed in the fish tissues with the highest total concentration of PAHs in Scomber scombrus. High concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene was observed in Clarias gariepinus and Ethmalosa fimbriata with values above the guideline value of 0.05 mg/kg. The Dietary Daily Intake (DDI) value for total PAHs (∑PAHs) was highest for S. scombrus while the DDI value for the total carcinogenic PAHs (∑CPAHs) was highest for E. fimbriata. Carcinogenic human health risk assessment using carcinogenic toxic equivalents (TEQ), indicated that consumption of E. fimbriata has a higher potential to cause carcinogenic risks. TEQ values for all the fish species were however, below the estimated screening value (SV) of 3.556 mg/kg, while the estimated cumulative excess cancer risk (ECR) for E. fimbriata and C. gariepinus and PAH4 index for all the assessed fish species exceeded threshold values indicating potential carcinogenic risk from consumption.
Highlights
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are an important group of compounds of major environmental concern
Previous studies have shown the presence of PAHs in smoked fish [3,8,5,6], studies on human health risk associated with consuming smoked fish are rather scanty [9], especially for reported studies from Nigeria
The results indicate that the consumption of S. scombrus in preference to the other fish species will result in higher risk of exposure to PAHs while the consumption of E. fimbriata will result in higher risk of exposure to carcinogenic PAHs
Summary
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are an important group of compounds of major environmental concern. PAHs are found in food as a result of food processing techniques like curing, drying, smoking, roasting, grilling, barbecuing and refining. Smoked fish products are the most available form of fish product for consumption [6], which could be attributed to the fact that most of the fishing communities have limited access to electricity to preserve their fish products [6] This has increased the risk of PAHs contamination through consumption. Previous studies have shown the presence of PAHs in smoked fish [3,8,5,6], studies on human health risk associated with consuming smoked fish are rather scanty [9], especially for reported studies from Nigeria
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