Hazard Analysis and Screening of the Prior Heavy Metals of Priority Pollution in Fish in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea

Abstract:

With increasingly serious heavy metal pollution in the aquatic environment, the pollution status in fish has affected the food safety and attracted much attention. It is urgent to know the condition of heavy metal pollution in fish in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. It is also crucial to know different metal pollutions in one fish species and to identify the prominent type of heavy metal. Here we analyzed the status of heavy metal pollution in fish in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea based on the literature and historical data, and compared the different situations to determine the prior pollution. We analyzed the exceeding standard rate, the detection rate and the limitation standard of heavy metals and found the priority order as Cr, As, Cd, Pb and Hg. The prior pollution in fish in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea were determined using the comprehensive evaluation method with the bio concentration factors (BCF), the toxicity effect, the pollution index and the exceeding standard rate. The score of Cd was the highest, and the order of scores was Cd > Hg > As* > Cr > Pb. Different fish species had different prior heavy metal pollution. Cd was the prior heavy metal in Cynoglossus robustus and Scomberomorus niphonius, and As* was the prior one in Synechogobius hast. Then we conducted the validation experiment with samples including C. robustus, Mugil cephalus, Synechogobius hasta, S. niphonius and Larimichthys polyactis that were collected from eight coastal cities along the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. The results of the validation experiments were consistent with those of the screening method, therefore the screening method should be reliable.