Dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in marine fish from Shandong, China, and human dietary exposure

ABSTRACT

The occurrence and human dietary exposure of 12 dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in 41 marine fish samples from Shandong Province of China were investigated. The DL-PCB congeners were extracted using automated Soxhlet extraction, purified via a composite column clean-up procedure and analysed by gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. DL-PCB congeners were found in all analysed samples, with a mean concentration of 0.887 ng/g ww (wet weight). The TEQ concentrations of DL-PCBs in individual fish samples ranged from 0.011 to 9.214 pg WHO TEQ/g ww. The mean dietary intake for all fish species was 36.5 pg TEQ/kg bw/month, which was lower than the provisional tolerable monthly intake of 70 pg TEQ/kg bw/month set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. To monitor the trend of DL-PCBs in fish for food safety control, it is necessary to maintain a surveillance programme.

KEYWORDS:

• Dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls
• dietary exposure
• fish
• coastal city
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The present work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant number No. 21705095] and the Health and Family Planning Commission of Shandong Province [Grant numbers 2014WS0382 and 2013WS0165].