Assessment of risk to humans of bisphenol A in marine and freshwater fish from Pearl River Delta, China

Chemosphere 85 (2011) 122–128

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Assessment of risk to humans of bisphenol A in marine and freshwater fish from Pearl River Delta, China Xi Wei a, Yeqing Huang a, Ming H. Wong a, John P. Giesy b, Chris K.C. Wong a,⇑ a b

Department of Biology, Croucher Institute of Environmental Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences & Toxicological Center, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 26 November 2010 Received in revised form 9 March 2011 Accepted 21 May 2011 Available online 22 June 2011 Keywords: Fish pollution Bisphenol A LC/MS/MS Health

a b s t r a c t Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high production-volume chemical used in the manufacture of a wide variety of consumer products. However it is also a ubiquitous contaminant that can interfere with endocrine systems of wildlife and humans. China is the ‘‘world factory’’ and the Pearl River Delta is the major manufacturing center and is consequently polluted. Concentrations of BPA in meats of marketable fish had not been previously reported for this region. In the study upon which we report here concentrations of BPA were determined in 20 common species of freshwater and marine fish, collected from markets in Hong Kong, SAR, China. A comprehensive analytical method based on SPE extraction and liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI–MS/MS) was developed, validated and applied. The method limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.5 and 1.25 ng g1 dw, respectively. BPA was detected in 19 species of fish at concentrations, ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 ng g1 ww. Average daily BPA intake per person ranged from 1.1  102 ng d1 for marine fish and 2.2  102 ng d1 for freshwater fish. Concentrations of BPA in fish from Hong Kong markets unlikely would be causing adverse population-level effects in humans. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical widely used in production of epoxy resins and polycarbonates, and is especially abundant in PVC plastics (Vandenberg et al., 2009). The market for BPA has been growing with the increasing demand for polycarbonates and epoxy resins. Global demand for BPA is predicted to grow from 3.9 million tons in 2006 to about 5 million tons in 2010 (Tsai, 2006). Many countries throughout the world have large production capacities for BPA, especially Germany, the Netherlands, the USA and Japan (Vandenberg et al., 2009). In recent years, the annual consumption of BPA in China has been approximately 206 000 ton (Peng et al., 2007). The extensive manufacture and use of BPA has led to its ubiquitous in the environment. BPA concentrations in the range of 5–320 ng L1 in river waters (Fromme et al., 2002; Ballesteros-Gomez et al., 2007), 20–700 ng L1 in sewage effluents (Ballesteros-Gomez et al., 2007; Ruiz et al., 2007), 2– 208 ng m3 in air, 0.2–199 ng g1 in dust (Rudel et al., 2001; Wilson et al., 2007) and 0.1–384 ng g1 in food-stuffs (Goodson et al., 2002; Thomson and Grounds, 2005) have been reported. Concentrations of BPA in blood and urine of 0.3–4.4 lg L1 and 0.47–9.5 lg L1 have been reported in healthy adults from some countries such as Japan, Korea, Belgian and China (Vandenberg ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +852 3411 7053; fax: +852 3411 5995. E-mail address: [email protected] (C.K.C. Wong). 0045-6535/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.05.038

et al., 2007, 2010). The presence of BPA in food is of special concern since it constitutes the primary route of human exposure. Detection of BPA in human fluids and tissues has led to questions of the safety of BPA and what effects it could cause to humans and wildlife (Vandenberg et al., 2007). BPA is classified as an endocrine disruptor, on the basis of its detectable estrogenic (Wozniak and Murias, 2008) and/or antiandrogenic potency (Lee et al., 2005). In animal studies, prenatal and neonatal exposures to BPA have been linked to early onset of sexual maturation (Howdeshell et al., 1999), altered development and tissue organization of mammary glands (Markey et al., 2001), reproductive tract lesions (Newbold et al., 2007), increase of prostate size (Timms et al., 2005) and decrease of sperm production (vom Saal et al., 1998) in offspring. Exposure to BPA has also been associated with chronic effects in humans, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes (Lang et al., 2008). Because of the large volume of production, wide dispersive use and endocrine disrupting properties, BPA is a candidate to be included in the list of substances subjected to authorization in the new policy on chemicals approval in Canada, Europe, and several key states of United States (i.e. Chicago, Connecticut, Minnisota and New York) (EFSA, 2006; Health Canada, 2008). Thus, there are pressing needs of more research studies for risk assessment and the control of human exposure to BPA. Over the past 20 years, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in South China has rapidly transformed from a traditional agriculture-based

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to an industry-based economy (Ouyang et al., 2006). This has resulted in a substantial increase in industrial discharges, and a widespread distribution of various pollutants in this region (Peng et al., 2007). At present the PRD is classified as a highly polluted region (Richardson et al., 2005; Zheng et al., 2008). Various types of industrial chemicals, pesticides and dioxins have been detected in the PRD (So et al., 2004; Zheng et al., 2004, 2009). Recently BPA pollution has been reported in surface water and sedimentary cores from the Pearl River (Peng et al., 2007; Gong et al., 2009; Zhao et al., 2009). With the benefit of hindsight, the wildlife and human health in PRD could potentially be affected by pollution in the environment and various foods. Since a data gap exists on BPA contamination in commercially food fish species from PRD market, therefore the monitoring of its contamination in fish may be useful to reveal the environmental occurrence and the exposure risk. The objectives of the present study were to: (1) measure concentrations of BPA in 20 species of freshwater and marine fishes available in local markets of Hong Kong; (2) compare concentrations of BPA in fishes cultivated in different regions of South China; and (3) estimate the local daily intake of BPA through fish consumption by people in Hong Kong. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Chemicals and equipment Methanol and ethanol (HPLC/MS grade), acetonitrile (HPLC grade) were purchased from Sigma–Aldrich, USA and Tedia, USA. Pesticide grade petroleum ether and ethyl acetate were purchased from LAB SCAN, UK. Authentic standards of bisphenol A and bisphenol A-d16 were obtained from AccuStandard, Connecticut, USA and Chiron, Trondheim, Norway. Stock solutions (1000 ng mL1) of BPA and BPA-d16 were prepared in methanol. Milli-Q water (Millipore, Milli-Q system) was used in sample preparation. All equipment, glassware and polypropylene (PP) centrifuge tubes (IWAKI, Japan) were pre-washed three times by acetone followed by methanol. An Agilent 1200 liquid chromatography (Waldbronn, Germany), equipped with a quaternary high-pressure gradient pump and an automatic sample injector was used for LC–MS/MS analysis. Chromatographic separation was performed by using an Agilent C8 (2.1 mm  12.5 mm, 5 lm) guard column (ZORBAX Eclipse XDBC8, Narrow-Bore) and a C18 ODS column (Agilent Zorbax XDBC18, 3.5 lm  2.1 mm  50 mm, 3. 5 lm). Tandem mass detection was conducted by an Agilent 6410B Triple Quadrupole mass spectrometer system equipped with an Agilent Masshunter Workstation (version B.02.01) and an electrospray ionization source. In order to achieve greater sensitivity, analytes were detected in a Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode with a dwell time of 10 min. The ionization source parameters were as follow: ion spray voltage, 5000 V; source temperature, 350 °C; nebulizer pressure, 40 psi; dry gas flow, 10 L min1; delta EMV, 900 V for negative. Collision energy (CE) of BPA-d16 and BPA were also optimized to obtain maximum sensitivity (Table 1). 2.2. Sampling and preparation Ten species of marine fishes and ten species of freshwater fishes were purchased from local markets in Hong Kong. The sources of different fish species are given (Fig. 1A) while species names and numbers of samples per species are shown (Table 2). Briefly, samples were wrapped in aluminum foil and stored on ice 0–4 °C during transportation. On arrival at the laboratory, individual fish were dissected immediately. Filleted muscle was freeze-dried and water content was determined. Dried samples were then

Table 1 BPA and BPA-d16 MRM conditions. Compound

Retention time

Precursor

Product

Dwell (ms)

Fragmentor (V)

Collision energy (V)

BPA-d16

6.72

241.1

BPA

6.74

227.1

223.1 142.1 212.1 133.1

80 80 80 80

95 95 95 95

12 20 10 20

ground into fine powder, homogenized and stored in desiccators until extraction followed by BPA quantification. 2.3. Extraction and clean-up An aliquot of 0.2 g dry weight (accurate to three significant figures) was extracted. Ten ng of deuterated BPA (BPA-d16) was added to each sample as an internal recovery standard. Each sample was extracted with 10 mL acetonitrile in a pre-washed 50 mL PP centrifuge tube. The sample was extracted in an ultrasonic bath (Models 3510, Branson, USA) for 30 min and was then mixed in a digital reciprocating shaker (HS501, IKA, Germany) for 30 min at 300 mot min1 at room temperature. The solution was centrifuged (Allegra 6R, BechMan, USA) at 1500 rcf for 15 min. The supernatant (the acetonitrile phase) was saved. The extraction was repeated twice and all the extracts pooled. An aliquot of 0.5 mL of the extract was saved for lipid content determination. The remaining extract was mixed with 15 mL n-hexane and was shaken vigorously for 30 min to remove lipids (Grumetto et al., 2008). The acetonitrile layer was then mixed with 150 mL Milli-Q water in a 250 mL glass conical flask and ultrasonic for 5 min. The extract was cleaned-up according to previously reported methods (Sajiki et al., 2007), with minor modification. HLB cartridges (Oasis HLB 6 cc, 200 mg, Waters, UK) were conditioned and equilibrated with 5 mL ethanol, followed by 5 mL MilliQ water. The extract was loaded into the cartridge at a flow rate of 1 mL min1, washed with 5 mL 15% ethanol, 5 mL MilliQ water and 20 mL petroleum ether. Each sample was eluted with 14 mL of ethyl acetate at a flow rate of 1 mL min1. The eluent was dried under N2 and was redissolved in 1 mL of methanol/water (50:50) prior to LC/MS/MS analysis. 2.4. Determination of lipid content in fish Twenty grams of freeze-dried sample was soxhlet extracted with 400 mL of 50% v/v hexane:dichloromethane for at least 40 h. Sample extracts were heated in a furnace set at 80 °C for at least 5 h. The extracts were kept in a desiccator for at least half hour and weighted. The heating and weighing procedures were repeated until the difference between two consecutive readings is less than 0.05 g. The final reading is the lipid content in the 20 g freeze-dried fish sample. 2.5. HPLC–MS/MS analysis Gradient LC conditions were adopted for separation and quantification of BPA in fish samples. In brief, mobile phases were A: MilliQ water and B: methanol. A six-step gradient was used as follows: 0 min, 20% B (flow rate: 0.25 mL min1); 0–2.5 min, linear gradient from 20%B to 95%B (flow rate: 0.25 mL min1); 2.5–5.5 min, 95%B (flow rate: 0.25 mL min1); 5.5–7 min, linear gradient from 95%B to 20%B (flow rate: 0.25 mL min1); 7–8 min, 20%B (flow rate: 0.8 mL min1); 8–10 min, 20%B (flow rate: 0.25 mL min1). The injection volume was 20 lL and the column temperature was maintained at 25 °C throughout the chromatography. The MS/MS was operated in the negative ESI mode and the MRM detection mode.

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(A)

Shunde

New Territories

Hong Kong Hong Kong island

South China Sea Hainan

(B)

geye Big

eeker'ss Group Ble per

ellow Se Ye eafin

ongue S To Sole

Orrange-s spotted per d group

artail Fla Ba athead

olden T Go Threadffin Brea am

oldspottted rab Go h bbitifish

nubnos e Pom pano Sn

ellow Croaker Ye

Grrey Mullet

potted S Sp head Snakeh

Marine Fish

apia Tila

andarin Ma n Fish

nakehead Sn

Ricce field d eel

atfish Ca

Grrass Ca arp

g head Carp Big

ud Fish Mu h

Freshwater Fish

BPA A Concc (ng/g lw)

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

New Territories

Shunde

Hong Kong Island

South China Sea

Hainan

Fig. 1. (A) Locations of cultured fish and (B) the concentrations of BPA in the fish samples, in respective to the origins of production. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different according to the results of one-way ANOVA followed by Duncan’s multiple range test (p < 0.05).

2.6. Quality control Instrumental Limits of Detection (LOD) (S/N > 3) and Limits of Quantification (LOQ) (S/N > 10) for BPA were 0.15 ng g1 dw and 0.25 ng g1 dw respectively. The method LOD and LOQ for BPA in fish samples were 0.5 ng g1 dw and 1.25 ng g1 dw respectively. Data were reported as ‘‘not detected’’ (ND) when the level was lower than LOD. One procedural blank was analyzed after each batch of eight samples to check for any interference and contamination from solvent and glassware. Rates of recovery of BPA-d16 standard with 3 ng and 10 ng spiking levels ranged between 76– 78% and 78–79%, respectively (n = 3). 2.7. Statistical analysis Statistical evaluations were conducted by SPSS16. All data were tested to be normally distributed and independent by using the

Normal Plots in SPSS and Shapiro–Wilk significance were 0.05. Differences among groups were tested for statistical significance by analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncan’s Multiple Range test (significance at p < 0.05) SPSS16. Results are presented as the mean ± SEM. Groups were considered significantly different if p < 0.05. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Concentrations of BPA in fishes from Hong Kong market Concentrations of BPA in meats of fishes collected from Hong Kong markets are tabulated (Table 2). BPA was detected in all fishes except in the Bleeker’s groupers. In freshwater fish samples, concentrations of BPA ranged from 0.5 to 2.0 ng g1 ww (wet weight), in which rice field eels exhibited the greatest concentration. In marine fishes, concentrations of BPA ranged from 0.0 to

125

X. Wei et al. / Chemosphere 85 (2011) 122–128 Table 2 Mean concentrations of BPA in 20 species of fish from HK market. Sample

Common name

Species name

N

Weight (g)

Lipid (%)

Original locations

BPA (ng g1 ww)

BPA (ng g1 lw)

Freshwater

Big head carp Catfish Grass carp Grey mullet Mandarin fish Mud fish Rice field eel Snakehead Spotted snakehead Tilapia

Aristichthys nobilis Claris fuscus Ctenopharyngodon idellus Mulgil cephalus Siniperca kneri Cirrhina molitorella Monopterus albus Channa asiatiea Channa maculate Oreochromis ossambicus

6 21 6 18 3 15 14 10 10 10

1000 ± 45.8 315.7 ± 36.7 916.7 ± 16.7 378.8 ± 27.7 1518.6 ± 118.6 413.6 ± 132.1 287.6 ± 22.6 450.0 ± 68.3 253.8 ± 18.2 430.6 ± 28.8

8.55 21.40 19.02 17.60 17.30 10.43 7.40 19.53 23.43 21.80

New Territories New Territories New Territories Shunde Shunde New Territories Shunde Shunde Shunde Shunde

1.9 ± 1.9  10 2.0 ± 3.3  101 1.3 ± 1.0  102 0.6 ± 1.4  101 1.9 ± 5.9  101 2.0 ± 5.2  101 0.5 ± 2.3  101 0.6 ± 1.0  101 1.3 ± 1.4  101 1.4 ± 2.4  101

4.7 ± 1.1  100 3.3 ± 5.1  101 7.0 ± 1.6  100 3.4 ± 1.4  100 10.7 ± 4.2  101 18.5 ± 6.0  102 22.4 ± 3.9  100 9.1 ± 1.5  100 5.5 ± 6.0  101 6.3 ± 1.1  100

Marine

Bartail flathead Bigeye Bleeker’s grouper Goldspotted rabbitfish Golden threadfin bream Orange-spotted grouper Snubnose pompano Tongue sole Yellow croaker Yellow seafin

Platycephalus indicus Priacanthus acracanthus Epinephelus bleekeri Siganus punctatus Nemipterus virgatus Epinephelus coioides Trachinotus blochii Cynoglossus robustus Pseudosciaena crocea Acanthopagrus latus

6 33 10 15 36 9 9 27 15 9

489.1 ± 407.0 201.7 ± 55.8 358.0 ± 150.7 174.6 ± 62.6 121.9 ± 33.3 432.3 ± 16.7 409.4 ± 36.7 184.6 ± 32.4 352.2 ± 65.4 416.6 ± 32.8

18.28 4.31 16.8 25.66 8.44 24.38 44.53 16.52 44.61 27.74

South China Sea Hainan Hainan Hong Kong Island South China Sea South China Sea Hong Kong Island South China Sea Hong Kong Island South China Sea

0.6 ± 8.0  102 0.7 ± 2.6  101 ND 0.7 ± 8.0  102 0.8 ± 2.2  101 0.7 ± 2.0  101 1.0 ± 3.5  101 1.1 ± 1.0  101 0.9 ± 0.8  101 0.5 ± 1.7  101

2.8 ± 3.0  101 3.3 ± 4.4  101 ND 9.6 ± 2.6  100 3.0 ± 8.3  101 2.2 ± 7.9  101 6.7 ± 1.0  100 1.7 ± 6.5  101 16.6 ± 3.0  100 1.9 ± 2.0  101

1

ND = not detected, and assumed as 0.0 for the BPA concentration values.

1.1 ng g1 ww, while yellow croaker exhibited the greatest concentration. Freshwater fishes (1.38 ± 0.2 ng g1 ww) collected from the Hong Kong markets contained significantly (p < 0.05) greater concentrations of BPA than did marine fishes (0.69 ± 0.5 ng g1 ww). Although it has been reported that BPA is biodegradable, the leaching of BPA from plastic products, effluents from wastewater treatment plants and landfills contribute significant amounts of BPA in the freshwater systems (Oehlmann et al., 2009). According to the studies conducted in the United States, Germany, Japan, Spain, and Netherlands, concentrations of BPA in surface water from rivers and fish ponds were ranged from 2 to 21 000 ng L1 (Belfroid et al., 2002; Crain et al., 2007). Although BPA concentrations in freshwater environments can be greater, concentrations in marine environments might be less due to dilution and microbial degradation (Miceli et al., 2009). In both freshwater and seawater fishes, relatively great concentrations of BPA were observed in carnivorous fish (rice field eel and yellow croaker). The likely explanation for this result is that carnivorous fish species are the top consumers in food chains (UNEP, 2002) and they commonly accumulate more pollutants (Nie et al., 2005). In aquaculture of PRD, carnivorous fishes is generally fed with fish offal, those might contain relatively high levels of pollutants (Cheung et al., 2007; Arvanitoyannis and Kassaveti, 2008). In addition to carnivorous fishes, bottom-feeding fish, such as mud fish was also contaminated with a greater concentration of BPA. This may be due to the greater concentrations of BPA exposure in sediments (Heemken et al., 2001). This assumption is supported by a dated monitoring study, which reported that BPA was well preserved in river sediments collected from the PRD estuary (Peng et al., 2007). 3.2. Comparison of fish from Hong Kong Markets to those from other locations The origins of fishes sold in the Hong Kong markets were shown (Fig. 1A). The greatest BPA contaminations were found in the fish from Hong Kong (New Territories and Island) and Shunde at Guangdong province (Fig. 1B). Comparatively BPA concentrations in fishes from Hainan and the South China Sea were less. This result was expected since urban areas usually display greater concentrations of BPA than suburb areas (WSP, 2007). In the PRD, the aquatic environment has been considerably polluted with the drastic increase in population density and industrial activities. It is

estimated that domestic and industrial wastewater amounted to 3.0  109 m3 annually in the PRD, of which more than 60% of the sewage was not treated before discharge. The detectable BPA contamination in the Pearl River ranged from 43.5 to 639.1 ng L1 (Gong et al., 2009). In Hong Kong, the rapid economic development has pushed manufacturing into the New Territories, where the most intensive freshwater aquaculture and three strategic landfills are located (Chung and Poon, 2001). In addition to the industrial discharges, landfill leachates also contribute significant source of pollutants (Eggen et al., 2010). A report from Japan highlighted that concentrations as great as 17 200 lg BPA L1 can be detected in leachates from landfills (Yamamoto et al., 2001). In the other location Shunde, this region has a network of cities that form the aquacultural and industrial base of the PRD, where over 400 fishponds are located. Downstream tributaries of the Zhujiang River in Guangdong Province, are the major water source used for aquaculture in Shunde. Relatively greater concentrations of BPA, ranging from 43.5 to 639.1 ng L1 were detected in surface waters collected from the Zhujiang River (Gong et al., 2009). 3.3. Comparison of BPA concentrations Previous studies have reported concentrations of BPA in fresh marketable fish, either on body lipid weight (lp) or wet weight (ww) basis. To facilitate data comparison, in the present study the data were presented in both lp and ww (Table 3). On the lipid weight basis, BPA concentrations in fishes collected from Hong Kong is comparable to the carp samples from Japan but lesser than the black seabream from Yundang Lagoon in Xiamen, China (Zhang et al., 2010). On the wet weight basis, concentrations of BPA observed in this study (0.5–2.0 ng g1 ww) were comparable to the concentrations detected in marketable fishes in Netherland, Sweden and Italy but were lesser than those in fishes collected from markets in Beijing, China (Shao et al., 2005), and coasts in Norway (Fjeld et al., 2004). 3.4. Estimated Intake of BPA via consumption of fish Consumption of fish often contributes a significant proportion of total intake of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in human diets (Cheung et al., 2008). The dietary habits of Chinese people in South China consume more fish than other meats or dairy

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Table 3 BPA found in fresh marketable fish from other studies. Sampling date

Sample size (species)

Country

2001 2004 2005 2006 2009 2007 2010 2009

6(3) 3(5) 6(ND) 1–10(4) 10(5) 30(1) 6(3) 6–30(20)

Netherland Norway Beijing, China Sweden Italy Japan Xiamen, China Hong Kong

BPA

products. A person of 60 kg body weight in Hong Kong consumes fish or shellfish four or more times a week, averaging about 60 kg of fish per year, which is equal to 164.4 g of fish per person per day (Dickman and Leung, 1998). Using this value, the calculated average daily intakes (ADI) ranged from 1.86 ng BPA per kg body weight per day for marine fish to 3.69 ng BPA per kg body weight per day for freshwater fish. Accordingly the estimated ADI of BPA intake via consumption of fish in Hong Kong market for an individual with 60 kg bw would be as much as 169.2 ng BPA per person per day. According to the USEPA (2010), the RfD for BPA is 50 lg BPA kg1 d1. Based on the average concentration of BPA detected in fishes in this study, the HR (Eq. (1)) for BPA (2.81 ng kg1 d1/50 lg kg1 d1) in edible portions of fishes sold in Hong Kong is 0.000056. This value is much less than 1.0 and the calculated margin of exposure (MoE) is as high as 17 793 (Eq. (2)). Several toxicokinetic studies on BPA metabolism in healthy adult have indicated that BPA can be rapidly cleared from blood (Volkel et al., 2005, 2008), hence the exposure of BPA through fish consumption seems to present no remarkable risk to humans in Hong Kong.

Authors

Wet weight

Lipid weight

0.24–2.6 ng g1 ww 1–14 ng g1 ww 0.33–7.8 ng g1 ww <0.24–4.7 ng g1 ww 0.1–4.9 ng g1 ww – – 0.5–2.0 ng g1 ww

– – – – – 0–30 ng g1 lw 64.8–177.4 ng g1 lw 2.2–22.4 ng g1 lw

Belfroid et al. (2002) Fjeld et al. (2004) Shao et al. (2005) WSP (2007) Mita et al. (2011) NITE (2007) Zhang et al. (2010) Present study

4. Conclusions

HR ¼ ADI=RfD

ð1Þ

Fish is a recommended bio-indicator for monitoring POPs (UNEP, 2004) and consumption of fish has many health benefits. In many areas of the world fish provides the major source of protein and essential amino acids in the diet of humans (Usydus et al., 2009). The nutritional benefits of fish consumption are due to the presence of essential omega-3, unsaturated fatty acids and minerals (Sidhu, 2003). Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids in fish or fish oil reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, and lessens hypertension and plasma triglycerides, and prevents cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death (Berry, 1997; Albert et al., 2002). Thus, the potential adverse effects of contaminants in fish cannot be made without the analysis of these risks balanced against the benefits of consuming fish. This study provided the first evaluation of concentrations of the endocrine-disrupting chemical BPA in fish and its potential to cause adverse effects in humans in Hong Kong. Moreover concentrations of other pollutions, such as DDTs and PAHs may cause a greater risk (Cheung et al., 2007). While better control of contaminants entering the aquatic environments of southern China is warranted, focusing on minimizing releases of BPA is or relatively low priority.

MoE ¼ 1=HR

ð2Þ

Acknowledgements

However, this HR does not take into account of other food sources and non-dietary routes to BPA exposure (Stahlhut et al., 2009; Zalko et al., 2011). Furthermore the RfD value of 50 lg BPA kg1 d1 is somewhat controversial since in animal studies, endocrine disrupting effects have been reported by exposure to concentrations of BPA at 102–103 fold less than the RfD (vom Saal and Hughes, 2005; vom Saal et al., 2005). Adverse effects like meiotic abnormalities in fetal oocytes and defects in the male and female reproductive tracts were found at exposure levels of less than 20 lg kg1 d1 during prenatal and neonatal development in mice (Hunt et al., 2003, 2009). If these effects are found to be relevant to humans, using the lowest RfD of 50 ng BPA kg1 d1, in the present study the calculated HR (0.056) is still less than 1. Therefore it is unlikely that BPA derived from the fish in Hong Kong markets would be causing adverse population-level effects in humans. According to the existing migration data, the daily intake of BPA from the food contact sources, like polycarbonate plastic and canned foods, is estimated in the range of 0.5–1.6 lg kg1 bw (USFDA, 2002). The data indicate that the fresh fish samples from Hong Kong are probably a minor dietary source of BPA. Moreover the additive effects of BPA and other pollutants cannot be ignored (Schmidt et al., 2006; Xiao et al., 2010). It has been estimated that a person can be exposed to more than 10 types of chemical pollutants per day through dietary route (Pompa et al., 2003). In marketable fish from Hong Kong, contamination with other pollutants like DDTs, PAHs and PBDEs were reported (Cheung et al. 2007, 2008). Accordingly these additive effects may make the HR value of BPA itself more significant even if it is less than 1.0.

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