Elemental Analysis of Crustaceans by Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Direct Mercury Analysis

Abstract

This study determined the concentrations of toxic metals including As, Cd, Hg and Pb in commonly consumed crustaceans collected from South Korea. The samples were prepared by wet digestion using HNO₃ and H₂O₂ by microwave assisted combustion. For As, Cd, and Pb, inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used. Hg content was determined using gold amalgation direct mercury analysis (DMA). The analytical techniques were validated by determining the correlation coefficients, limits of detection and quantification, coefficients of variance, spiking, and accuracy by analysis of an oyster tissue certified reference material (NIST CRM-1566b). The distribution of toxic metals was determined in whole, muscles, and digestive tracts of crustaceans. Furthermore, to provide information on consumer safety, risk assessment in terms of estimated dietary daily/weekly intake, target hazard quotient, and hazard index values was performed. The concentration (mg/kg) was in decreasing order of As (2.17–6.05) > Cd (0.154–4.57) > Pb (0.033–0.128) > Hg (0.011–0.086). The estimated dietary daily/weekly intake, target hazard quotient, and hazard indices were compared with the standards established by United States Environmental Protection Agency, and Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives and were below the threshold values. The analyzed crustaceans are not expected cause threats to consumers upon normal consumption.

KEYWORDS:

• Crustaceans
• digestive tract
• direct mercury analyzer
• inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
• target hazard quotient

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support from Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Republic of Korea, through research grant (12162MFDS014) for this study.