Shellfish

Aquatic ecosystem

Ecology

Biology

Aquatic environment

Fish <Actinopterygii>

Fishery

Endocrinology

Aquatic animal

China

Archaeology

Environmental health

Shrimp

Body weight

Geography

Tolerable daily intake

Toxicology

Environmental chemistry

Health risk assessment

Environmental science

Heavy metals

Health risk

Medicine

Chemistry

Crustacean

Decapoda

Marine Pollution Bulletin

This paper analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution of heavy metals in 6746 samples of aquatic organisms (fishes, shrimp and crabs), to make health risk assessments of six heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg and Pb). The results indicated that there were significant differences of heavy metal concentrations between different groups of aquatic organisms, months and provinces. The concentrations of Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb varied greatly within one year, with levels higher in summer and autumn, and lower in spring and winter. Crabs in Shandong, Shanxi, Zhejiang and Shanghai posed a high risk of Cd exposure, with the average Cd level exceeding the limit set by China (0.5 mg/kg, w.w.). In addition, the average TRCd value in sea crab was greater than 10-4, indicating a high cancer risk. However, the average THQ values of the six metals were all below 1 in China, and there was no overall non-carcinogenic risk.

Heavy metal concentrations in aquatic organisms (fishes, shrimp and crabs) and health risk assessment in China