Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

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Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Baseline

Heavy metal concentrations in wild fishes captured from the South

China Sea and associated health risks
Yang-Guang Gu, Qin Lin ⇑, Xue-Hui Wang, Fei-Yan Du, Zi-Ling Yu, Hong-Hui Huang
South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510300, China
Key Laboratory of Fishery Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510300, Guangdong Province, China
Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation & Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Heavy metal concentrations were measured in 29 marine wild fish species from the South China Sea.
Available online xxxx Concentrations (wet weight) were 0.51–115.81 ng/g (Cd), 0.54–27.31 ng/g (Pb), 0.02–1.26 lg/g (Cr),
8.32–57.48 ng/g (Ni), 0.12–1.13 lg/g (Cu), 2.34–6.88 lg/g (Zn), 2.51–22.99 lg/g (Fe), and 0.04–0.81 lg/
Keywords: g (Mn), respectively. Iron concentrations in all and Mn in some fish species were higher than the accept-
Heavy metals able daily upper limit, suggesting human consumption of these wild fish species may pose a health risk.
Marine wild fish Human health risk assessment, however, indicated no significant adverse health effects with
Health risk
consumption.
South China Sea
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heavy metals are of increasing global concern because of their
persistence in the environment, effects on biogeochemical recy-
cling, and ecological risks (Gao and Chen, 2012; Gu et al., 2012b;
Zhou et al., 2007). Heavy metals are categorized as potentially toxic
(e.g., Cd, Pb, Ni) and essential (e.g., Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn). Even at low
concentrations, toxic metals can be very harmful for human health
when ingested over a long time period. Essential metals can also
produce toxic effects with excessive intake (Tuzen, 2009; Uluozlu
et al., 2007; Waqar et al., 2006).
Fish are consumed by humans worldwide for their high protein
and low saturated fat content and for omega fatty acids, which are
known for their health benefits (Arts et al., 2001; Sinha et al., 2011;
Storelli, 2008). However, fish may be contaminated with toxic met-
als from many sources, including industrial and domestic
wastewater, and water pollution in natural runoff and contributory
rivers (Ip et al., 2005; Liu et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2013). Through
toxicity and accumulation in the environment, heavy metals dis-
charged into the marine environment can impact species diversity
as well as entire marine ecosystems (Järup, 2003; Matta et al.,
1999; Türkmen et al., 2009; Tuzen, 2009).
Investigations of heavy metal accumulation in fish from aquatic
environments have largely been conducted in food safety studies.
Heavy metal accumulation in fish can create long-term impacts
on ecosphere biogeochemical cycling. Heavy metals accumulate
⇑ Corresponding author at: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese
Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510300, China. Tel.: +86 20 89102080;
fax: +86 20 84451442.
E-mail address: hydrobio@163.com (Q. Lin).
as they move up the food chain, and may reach dangerous levels
for human health (Gu et al., 2012a; Ip et al., 2005; Sapkota et al.,
2008; Yi et al., 2011). Thus, it is important to analyze the chemical
composition of aquatic organisms, particularly heavy metal con-
centrations in widely consumed fish species. Levels of heavy met-
als in fish along the coast of the South China Sea have been
examined and widely reported in the literature (Kwok et al.,
2014; Leung et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2013; Zhang and Wang,
2012). However, heavy metal contents in marine wild fish species
from Zhongsha (Macclesfield) Fishing Ground, Zhubi (Subi) Reef,
and Meiji (Mischief) Reef of the South China Sea are unknown.
Meanwhile, heavy metal contents in most of this study marine
wild fish species from Wanshan Fishing Ground are scarce. Thus,
the main objectives of this study are to (1) investigate heavy metal
concentrations in twenty-nine marine wild fish species from the
South China Sea and (2) to conduct a health risk assessment of
heavy metals attributed to the consumption of marine wild fish.
From September to October 2012, 29 marine wild fish species
were caught at four stations in the South China Sea, including
the Wanshan Fishing Ground, Zhongsha (Macclesfield) Fishing
Ground, Zhubi (Subi) Reef, and Meiji (Mischief) Reef (Fig. 1).
Once the fishes were on deck, Thunnus albacore was killed instantly
by brain-spiking (ike jime) and the other species were slaughtered
or stunned at 60 °C refrigeration house. Seven to twenty-five
individuals having roughly constant body length were collected
of each species. Samples were transported to the laboratory within
four hours of collection and rinsed with distilled water four times.
The dorsal muscles of each individual were removed, mixed

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.022
0025-326X/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Gu, Y.-G., et al. Heavy metal concentrations in wild fishes captured from the South China Sea and associated health risks.
Mar. Pollut. Bull. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.022
2 Y.-G. Gu et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

Fig. 1. Sampling stations in the South China Sea.

thoroughly within each species, and placed in plastic zip-lock bags
at 20 °C. The fish muscle tissues were then dried to a constant
weight in an oven at 40 °C, ground gently with an agate pestle
and mortar, homogenized with a 100-lm nylon mesh sieve, and
stored in glass bottles until analysis.
To determine heavy metal content, dried and homogenized
samples were analyzed using microwave digestion. After weighing
0.3 g of each sample in a high-pressure Teflon bomb, 8 mL concen-
trated HNO3 (65%) and 2 mL H2O2 (30%) were added, and samples
were covered with a watch glass for 24 h to prevent disturbance.
Samples were then digested using the Ethos Plus microwave lab-
oratory station (Milestone, Sorisole, Italy) with the following tem-
perature stages, all at 1000 w: 30–200 °C for 15 min and 200 °C for
40 min, followed immediately by ventilation at room temperature
for 18 min. Extracts were then transferred into 50-mL flasks and
heated until 1 mL remained. After cooling, the concentrated extract
was diluted to 5 mL with ultrapure water and well mixed.
Concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn were deter-
mined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS, Z2000,
Hitachi). The water content of fish muscle tissues was determined
gravimetrically by the difference in weight before and after heating
an aliquot at 80 °C to constant weight. Wet weights of fish muscle
tissues were determined using water content and dry weight
measurements.
Reagent blanks were taken throughout the analysis and used to
correct the analytical results. Analysis of eight metals was per-
formed on the Standard Reference MaterialÒ 2976 Muscle Tissue
(Trace Elements and Methylmercury) as well as samples for quality
control. Recovery tests were between 91% and 109%.
Levels of eight heavy metals in fish taken from the South China
Sea are listed in Table 1. Metal content (wet weight) had ranges of
0.51–115.81 ng/g for Cd, 0.54–27.31 ng/g for Pb, 0.02–1.26 lg/g for
Cr, 8.32–57.48 ng/g for Ni, 0.12–1.13 lg/g for Cu, 2.34–6.88 lg/g
for Zn, 2.51–22.99 lg/g for Fe, and 0.04–0.81 lg/g for Mn. The
highest concentrations found were in Fe, followed by Zn, Cr, Cu,
Mn, Ni, Cd, and Pb.
Cadmium can accumulate in the human body and may cause
kidney dysfunction, skeletal damage, and reproductive deficiencies
(Uluozlu et al., 2007). Lead poisoning can cause reduced cognitive
development and intellectual performance in children and

Please cite this article in press as: Gu, Y.-G., et al. Heavy metal concentrations in wild fishes captured from the South China Sea and associated health risks.
Mar. Pollut. Bull. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.022
 Y.-G. Gu et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2015) xxx–xxx 3

Table 1
Heavy metal concentrations (wet weight basis) in marine wild fish species captured from different locations of the South China Sea. The bold face values indicate the maximum
concentrations. Data are mean ± SD (the standard deviation of replicate measurements of metals).

Locations Species Individual Metal concentrations

number
Cd (ng/g) Pb (ng/g) Cr (lg/g) Ni (ng/g) Cu (lg/g) Zn (lg/g) Fe (lg/g) Mn (lg/g)
Wanshan Fishing Acanthocepola limbata 25 5.61 ± 0.18 2.72 ± 0.06 0.33 ± 0.004 26.25 ± 0.47 0.19 ± 0.002 4.26 ± 0.04 9.19 ± 0.13 0.22 ± 0.006
Ground Ariomma indica 14 25.03 ± 0.70 4.68 ± 0.10 0.37 ± 0.008 26.69 ± 0.59 0.23 ± 0.003 2.92 ± 0.03 7.18 ± 0.11 0.18 ± 0.003
Decapterus maruadsi 20 3.56 ± 0.12 5.04 ± 0.12 1.03 ± 0.013 19.82 ± 0.46 0.63 ± 0.009 4.34 ± 0.04 11.25 ± 0.14 0.10 ± 0.002
Lophiomus setigerus 12 6.16 ± 0.23 0.64 ± 0.01 0.02 ± 0.001 17.08 ± 0.31 0.12 ± 0.001 2.75 ± 0.04 2.51 ± 0.03 0.12 ± 0.002
Muraenesox cinereus 8 0.51 ± 0.02 3.10 ± 0.05 0.13 ± 0.003 22.77 ± 0.36 0.13 ± 0.002 3.12 ± 0.04 3.04 ± 0.06 0.59 ± 0.011
Nemipterus virgatus 17 1.05 ± 0.04 3.67 ± 0.08 0.10 ± 0.001 30.53 ± 0.70 0.23 ± 0.003 2.84 ± 0.03 7.63 ± 0.11 0.32 ± 0.004
Priacanthus macracanthus 20 16.37 ± 0.54 0.54 ± 0.02 0.84 ± 0.013 20.15 ± 0.44 0.15 ± 0.002 2.73 ± 0.03 3.28 ± 0.05 0.08 ± 0.001
Psenopsis anomala 19 7.68 ± 0.27 2.12 ± 0.06 0.55 ± 0.007 17.97 ± 0.49 0.20 ± 0.004 2.53 ± 0.04 4.33 ± 0.06 0.04 ± 0.001
Raja hollandi 8 2.92 ± 0.10 7.72 ± 0.18 0.74 ± 0.012 32.57 ± 0.75 0.46 ± 0.006 3.63 ± 0.06 5.99 ± 0.07 0.34 ± 0.005
Sardinella melanura 18 22.35 ± 0.72 1.31 ± 0.02 0.26 ± 0.005 29.98 ± 0.54 0.41 ± 0.006 4.20 ± 0.05 10.36 ± 0.18 0.34 ± 0.005
Sphyraena pinguis 22 2.78 ± 0.09 7.99 ± 0.18 0.53 ± 0.012 9.23 ± 0.21 0.19 ± 0.003 2.72 ± 0.04 5.32 ± 0.10 0.10 ± 0.002
Trachurus japonicus 25 70.39 ± 1.97 5.47 ± 0.15 1.17 ± 0.027 15.90 ± 0.43 0.48 ± 0.005 4.45 ± 0.07 10.17 ± 0.10 0.15 ± 0.002
Zhongsha Auxis thazard 20 9.42 ± 0.29 7.64 ± 0.24 0.79 ± 0.011 13.65 ± 0.29 0.29 ± 0.006 2.63 ± 0.03 6.56 ± 0.10 0.06 ± 0.001
(Macclesfield) Brama japonica 19 3.70 ± 0.10 10.44 ± 0.23 0.96 ± 0.014 36.62 ± 0.81 0.45 ± 0.005 4.59 ± 0.05 4.55 ± 0.06 0.04 ± 0.001
Fishing Ground Coryphaena hippurus 12 0.52 ± 0.02 9.69 ± 0.33 1.03 ± 0.014 10.51 ± 0.36 0.38 ± 0.005 3.73 ± 0.05 9.69 ± 0.16 0.11 ± 0.002
Kyphosus cinerascens 14 3.56 ± 0.10 23.21 ± 0.72 1.08 ± 0.018 49.63 ± 1.54 1.13 ± 0.017 6.88 ± 0.08 22.99 ± 0.28 0.10 ± 0.003
Kyphosus lembus 15 1.57 ± 0.04 16.43 ± 0.46 0.93 ± 0.021 24.00 ± 0.41 0.68 ± 0.012 5.23 ± 0.12 16.02 ± 0.22 0.06 ± 0.001
Scombermorus commersoni 15 1.57 ± 0.05 5.91 ± 0.11 0.82 ± 0.015 32.27 ± 0.61 0.37 ± 0.007 4.24 ± 0.09 5.47 ± 0.11 0.04 ± 0.001
Thunnus albacora 7 0.67 ± 0.03 13.39 ± 0.29 1.26 ± 0.025 57.48 ± 1.26 0.21 ± 0.003 5.11 ± 0.07 9.29 ± 0.21 0.06 ± 0.001
Zhubi (Subi) Reef Parupeneus chryserdros 11 1.02 ± 0.03 3.71 ± 0.12 0.28 ± 0.006 8.32 ± 0.17 0.16 ± 0.002 2.65 ± 0.04 3.83 ± 0.07 0.09 ± 0.001
Parupeneus pleurostigma 10 2.36 ± 0.08 12.84 ± 0.31 0.81 ± 0.017 40.07 ± 0.96 0.36 ± 0.006 4.38 ± 0.07 5.06 ± 0.07 0.14 ± 0.002
Siganus oramin 18 13.18 ± 0.41 27.31 ± 0.71 1.01 ± 0.018 46.18 ± 1.20 0.17 ± 0.003 4.46 ± 0.06 10.87 ± 0.24 0.38 ± 0.006
Meiji (Mischief) Acanthurus xanthopterus 13 115.81 ± 2.90 7.11 ± 0.21 0.38 ± 0.006 38.10 ± 1.14 0.16 ± 0.002 2.34 ± 0.05 5.48 ± 0.13 0.12 ± 0.002
Reef Anampses twisti Bleeker 14 4.23 ± 0.11 8.52 ± 0.19 0.52 ± 0.008 24.26 ± 0.53 0.17 ± 0.002 3.85 ± 0.05 5.45 ± 0.10 0.15 ± 0.003
Cephalopholis miniatus 19 1.65 ± 0.05 4.49 ± 0.11 0.59 ± 0.009 14.09 ± 0.34 0.12 ± 0.002 2.80 ± 0.04 5.13 ± 0.10 0.05 ± 0.001
Cheilinus fasciatus 15 10.65 ± 0.26 2.74 ± 0.07 0.37 ± 0.009 44.80 ± 1.12 0.20 ± 0.003 4.19 ± 0.07 6.74 ± 0.10 0.81 ± 0.019
Epinephelus merra 15 16.90 ± 0.34 3.84 ± 0.09 0.52 ± 0.008 36.33 ± 0.87 0.16 ± 0.003 2.64 ± 0.05 2.70 ± 0.04 0.09 ± 0.001
Halichoeres centiquadrus 17 3.83 ± 0.12 6.07 ± 0.14 0.55 ± 0.009 27.01 ± 0.62 0.12 ± 0.002 2.88 ± 0.04 3.85 ± 0.06 0.10 ± 0.002
Siganus vulpinus 13 32.71 ± 1.08 23.89 ± 0.60 0.47 ± 0.011 54.48 ± 1.36 0.26 ± 0.004 2.53 ± 0.03 17.02 ± 0.20 0.17 ± 0.003

increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in adults
(Canfield et al., 2003; Goyer, 1993; Hsu and Guo, 2002). The
Chinese National Food Allowable Pollutants Standards specifies
that the maximum concentration of Cd allowed in fish intended
for consumption is 100 ng/g (GB 2762–2012). The Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) allows maximum concentrations
of 500 ng/g Cd (1983).
Generally, Cd levels in analyzed fish samples were lower than
legal limits. The highest Cd content found was 115.81 ng/g in
Acanthurus xanthopterus from Meiji Reef. In the literature, Cd levels
have been reported from below detectable limits (n.d.) to 70 ng/g
in fish species from Daya Bay (Wang et al., 2009), 100–130 ng/g
in Pearl River Estuary in southeast China (Ip et al., 2005), and
40–250 ng/g in Jiaozhou Bay of northeast China (Cui et al., 1997).
The maximum concentration of Pb observed was 27.31 ng/g in
Siganus oramin of Zhubi Reef. The maximum allowable concentra-
tion of Pb in marine fishes according to Chinese national standards
is 500 ng/g (GB 2762–2012). Maximum Pb content allowed is 2000
and 500 ng/g for the World Health Organization (WHO) (1996) and
FAO (1983), respectively. Lead content reported in the literature
was n.d. 510 ng/g in fish species from Daya Bay (Wang et al.,
2009), 90–30,700 ng/g in fish from Pear River Estuary (Ip et al.,
2005), 0–2200 ng/g in seafood from Yangtze River Estuary
(Huang et al., 2011), and 100–1810 ng/g in Jiaozhou Bay (Cui
et al., 1997). Pb levels in fish from the South China Sea were gen-
erally lower than legal limits.
Chromium is an essential trace element in glucose metabolism,
insulin, and blood lipids (Anderson, 2000; Mertz, 1993; Zhang
et al., 2014). Suboptimal dietary intake of Cr is associated with
increased risk factors for diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular dis-
ease (Anderson, 2000; Mertz, 1993). The recommended daily
intake of Cr is 50–200 lg (RDA, 1989). The Codex Alimentarius
Commission of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United States,
and Taiwan have no limit set for chromium in aquatic foods
(Zhang et al., 2014). Chinese national standards set the limit of
Cr at 2.0 lg/g (GB 2762–2012). The highest Cr levels in fish of
the South China Sea were 1.26 lg/g in T. albacora of the
Zhongsha Fishing Ground. Concentrations of Cr recorded in the
literature were 0.11–27 lg/g in fish species from the Pearl River
Estuary (Ip et al., 2005) and 0.018–0.370 lg/g in seafood from
the coast of Zhejiang Province, China (Sun et al., 2012).
The maximum level of Ni detected was 57.48 ng/g in T. albacora
of the Zhongsha Fishing Ground. Ni concentrations recorded in fish
species from the Pearl River Estuary were 170–2080 ng/g. There is
no limit of Ni for fish in Chinese standards. WHO recommends a
daily intake of 100,000–300,000 ng Ni (1994).
The highest concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Fe were all found in
Kyphosus cinerascens from the Zhongsha Fishing Ground, while
maximum Mn was in Cheilinus fasciatus from the Meiji Reef.
Maximum concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn were 1.13, 6.88,
22.99, and 0.81 lg/g, respectively. Previously reported levels of
Cu and Zn in fish were similar to those found here, at 0.15–
7.55 lg/g and 8.78–30.26 lg/g from the Pearl River Estuary (Ip
et al., 2005), 0.04–1.37 lg/g and 2.18–27.3 lg/g from Daya Bay
(Wang et al., 2009), and 0.13–7.57 lg/g and 1.42–14.2 lg/g from
Jiazhou Bay (Cui et al., 1997).
Copper is an essential trace mineral, but very high intake can
cause adverse health problems such as liver and kidney damage
(Ikem and Egiebor, 2005). Zinc is involved in most metabolic path-
ways in humans, and deficiency can result in loss of appetite,
inhibition of growth, skin changes, and immunological abnormali-
ties (Tuzen, 2009). Iron deficiency causes anemia, and fish is a
major source of Fe for adults and children. Manganese, another
essential element, is a component of some enzymes. Maximum
allowable limits for Cu and Zn by FAO (1983) are both 30 lg/g,
and all fish samples were lower than this limit. There are no

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4 Y.-G. Gu et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2015) xxx–xxx
Table 2
Daily intake of trace elements through marine fish consumption by people in China.
Metals CUCL (lg/g ww) EDI (lg/kg bw/day)
Cd 0.093 0.005
Cr 1.22 0.063
Ni 0.06 0.003
Cu 0.91 0.047
Zn 6.06 0.313
Fe 20.01 1.033
Mn 0.70 0.036
EDI, estimated daily intake; ADI, allowed daily intake, calculated from the provisional tolerance weekly intake set by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World
Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA, 2003).
RfD, reference doses of trace metals as established by the US EPA (2011); Hazard quotient = EDI/RfD. If the ratio is <1, there is no obvious risk.
maximum limits of Fe and Mn content in fish in Chinese standards,
FAO, or WHO. FAO and WHO have, however, proposed a limit for
heavy metal intake based on body weight. For an average adult
(60-kg body weight), the acceptable daily intake for each metal is
214 lg Pb, 3 mg Cu, 60 mg Zn, 48 mg Fe, and 11 mg Mn (Tuzen,
2009). In this study in the South China Sea, the concentrations of
Fe in all fish samples and of Mn in some species were higher than
the acceptable daily upper limits.
Generally, benthic fish exhibited higher heavy metal concentra-
tions than fish inhabiting the upper water column because they are
in direct contact with the sediments and their greater uptake of
heavy metal concentrations from benthic organisms (Çoğun
et al., 2006; El-Moselhy et al., 2014; Wei et al., 2014).
Meanwhile, different fish species contained different metal con-
centrations in their tissues because of their variations in feeding
habits and behavior (Dural et al., 2007; Dhaneesh et al., 2012).
The A. xanthopterus, S. oramin, K. cinerascens, and C. fasciatus are
coral reef benthic fishes and they feed on benthic organisms.
According to reasons above, the concentrations of Cd in A. xan-
thopterus, Pb in S. oramin, Cu, Zn and Fe in K. cinerascens, and Mn
in C. fasciatus were highest.
Tropic-level differences in metal levels have been reported for
numerous contaminants (Lemly, 1993a,b; Burger et al., 2002;
Sydeman and Jarman, 1998). Previous study showed that heavy
metal levels would reflect tropic levels (Jarman et al., 1996;
Burger et al., 2002; Lavoie et al., 2013). It is well known that
T. albacore is a top-level predator (Olson and Boggs, 1986; Sibert
et al., 2006). Therefore, the highest concentrations of Cr and Ni
were found in yellowfin that may be ascribed to bioaccumulation.
The human health risk was evaluated based on the provisional
tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), acceptable daily intake (ADI), and
the reference dose (RfD) previously founded by US EPA (2011)
and JECFA (2003). The estimated daily intake (EDI) (lg kg1 d1)
was computed with the following formula:
CUCL  DCfish
EDI ¼ ; work and WANG Zeng-Huan for laboratory assistance (South
BW
where CUCL, the exposure-point concentration upper confidence
limit (lg/g), is an estimate of the ‘‘reasonable maximum exposure’’.
The 95% upper confidence limit of the mean (UCL) was calculated
using the statistical software SPSS 19.0 for Windows. DCfish is the
daily fish consumption (g/d) per capita weight (kg) of the target
population. BW is the average body weight of a Chinese individual.
The hazard quotient (HQ) was computed by dividing the EDI by the
established RfD to evaluate the health risk from fish consumption. A
value of HQ 6 1 indicates no obvious risk.
The average weight of 158,666 Chinese individuals across all
provinces is reported at 58.1 kg (Onsanit et al., 2010). The average
daily consumption of marine fish in China is 3 g/person/d (FAO,
2008). The EDI of heavy metals based on these values is reported
in Table 2. The HQ of Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn were all less than
Please cite this article in press as: Gu, Y.-G., et al. Heavy metal concentrations in wild fishes captured from the South China Sea and associated health risks.
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ADI (lg/kg bw/day) Rfd (lg/kg bw/day) Hazard quotient
1 1 0.0048
– 3 0.0210
– 50 0.0001
500 40 0.0012
300 300 0.0010
800 700 0.0015
140 140 0.0003
1. HQ could not be calculated for Pb because there are no reported
RfD values. The calculated EDI values were 48–16,667 times lower
than RfD guidelines, indicating no significant health risks from the
intake of heavy metals through the consumption of these fish. The
average fish and seafood consumption of a Chinese individual
(71 g/person/d) includes freshwater fish (29 g/person/d), shellfish
(29 g/person/d), and marine fish (3 g/person/d) (Onsanit et al.,
2010; Zhang and Wang, 2012). However, those living along the
coast generally consume more seafood than individuals living
inland. In coastal cities of Guangdong Province, for example, the
estimated daily consumption of marine fish is 57.4 g/d (19 times
higher than the average Chinese consumption) (Tang et al.,
2009). Even with high fish consumption along the coast, the EDI
was significantly lower than the established ADI.
In conclusion, bioaccumulation of heavy metals in seafood is a
major health concern worldwide. The present study conducted a
large-scale investigation of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn,
Fe, and Mn) in marine wild fish in the South China Sea. Detected
mean metal concentrations in wild fish were (in decreasing order):
Fe > Zn > Cr > Cu > Mn > Ni > Cd > Pb. With the exception of Fe and
Mn, heavy metal concentrations in analyzed fish species were
lower than acceptable daily upper limits. The intake of Fe for all
samples and Mn in some fish species was higher than acceptable
daily upper limits, suggesting potential health risks of human con-
sumption. Human health risk assessment, however, indicated that
the human health risks of heavy metal exposure through consump-
tion of these marine wild fish are negligible.
Acknowledgments
This study was found by Chinese Agriculture Key Financial Fund
(No. NFZX2013) and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong
Province, China (2014A030310220). We would also like to thank
ZHANG Peng, the crew of the NanFeng for assistance in the field
China Sea Fisheries Research Institute). We also grateful to LI
Lai-Hao and WANG Liang-Gen for constructive comments (South
China Sea Fisheries Research Institute) as well as anonymous
reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript.
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