Malachite green and chloramphenicol in aquatic products from regions around Dongting Lake in Hunan, China

ABSTRACT

Aquatic products are important sources of animal proteins in human diet, especially in developing countries. As such, the safety of aquatic products is of primary concern. In this study, a standard method is used to detect malachite green (MG) and chloramphenicol (CAP) and to analyse the contents of these banned chemicals in turtle, mandarin fish and grass carp sampled from the region surrounding Dongting Lake area in Hunan, China. Results showed that 10.6% of the samples were MG-positive, most of them turtles. CAP was found in 8.3% of the samples, mostly in mandarin fish. These data indicated that these banned substances are still used in the surveyed area. Hence, adequate strategies must be implemented by the local government to control these banned substances.

KEYWORDS:

• Aquatic products
• malachite green
• chloramphenicol
• food safety
• turtle
• mandarin fish
• grass carp

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the scientific research projects of the National Foundation of Natural Science of China [grant number 31401583] and the United Foundation of Hunan Province and Changde City [grant number 2015JJ5008].