Concentrations of Selected Trace Elements in Marine Bivalves and the Dietary Risk to Residents of Dalian City, Northern China

ABSTRACT

To assess the potential health risks associated with selected trace elements due to consumption of bivalves, a screening-level risk assessment was conducted through consideration of internationally accepted dietary guidelines and the calculation of hazard quotients. Seventeen edible bivalve species were collected from a local market in Dalian City, China. The ranges obtained for the trace elements analyzed in mg/kg dry weight were as follows: Cu (1.8–133), Zn (56–693), Mn (5.7–150), Se (0.2–3.8), Ni (0.56–7.67), Cd (0.04–10.3), Cr (0.48–2.23), Pb (0.01–1.63), Hg (0.07–0.35), and As (0.22–4.00). The estimated daily intake (EDI) of bivalves was 15.0–255.1 times lower than the RfD guidelines for all the trace elements studied. Further, the calculated hazard quotients (HQs) of the trace elements analyzed were well less than 1. Therefore, there were no potential human health risks to Dalian City consumers of marine bivalves.

Key Words:

• trace elements
• bivalve mollusks
• estimated daily intake (EDI)
• hazard quotient (HQ)
• risk assessment.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this work. This project was supported by the earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (CARS-48).