Nationwide assessment of persistent halogenated compounds (PHCs) in farmed golden pompano of China

Abstract Persistent halogenated compounds (PHCs) contamination has become a major concern over the world. Here we investigated occurrence, spatial distributions, congener profiles, as well as health risks of PHCs in farmed golden pompano in China using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The concentrations of PCBs, PBDEs and OCPs were in the range of 0.78–4.79 ng/g wet weight (ww), not detected (nd)-1.14 ng/g ww and 1.1–38.8 ng/g ww, respectively. Furthermore, ρ,ρ′-DDT, ο,ρ′-DDT and PCB 101 were the dominant PHC contaminants. The estimated daily intakes of PHCs through consumption of golden pompano were up to 12.86 and 131.34 ng/kg body weight/day based on the mean and 95th concentrations determined in golden pompano, respectively. Risk-based analysis indicates that target PHCs in golden pompano would not pose risks to human. Our study presents the first report of a nationwide survey of PHCs contamination in farmed golden pompano in China.