Investigationandriskassessmentofpolychlorinatedbiphenyls,heavymetalsin<italic>Ictaluruspunctatus</italic>,sedimentandwaterinJiangsuProvince

In the study, presence, distribution of 18 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), including 7 indicator PCBs, 12 dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs), and 4 heavy metals (Pb, As, Cd, Hg) have been investigated in Ictalurus punctatus, sediment and water from Jiangsu fish farms; thereafter, risk assessment have been conducted for the ecological risk and human health. The results showed that PCB28, PCB52, PCB114 were the most frequently found pollutants in all collected fish, sediment and water samples. Upon to the different geographical location of fishery farms across Jiangsu Province, components of PCBs presented differently, which implied different pollution sources. The concentration of PCBs found in sediment (178.4-457.2 pg/g) was higher than that detected in water (0.2-11.9 ng/L). Higher concentrations of PCBs was also found in fish meat (1.28-267.96 pg/g), compared to that in fish liver (0.64-95.46 pg/g), and guts and stomach (1.20-45.94 pg/g). Higher content of fat in fish meat could be the possibility of higher enrichment of PCBs compared to the other tissues. Meanwhile, higher concentration of heavy metal was found in sediment than that in water. The total enrichment of heavy metal in fish was found to be Pb﹥As﹥Cd﹥Hg in descend order. Total amount of heavy metals enriched in different tissues were found to be liver ﹥gastrointestinal system﹥meat. All the DL-PCBs TEQ (1.9 pg/g) is less than the maximum residue limit (MRL) of EU (6.5 pg/g). THQ (US, EPA) and R model were employed for the risk assessment by comprising the estimated daily intake and the daily allowed intake. The results revealed that the carcinogenic risk of 18 kinds PCBs and 4 kinds heavy metals remained acceptable level in this study.