Journal Article

Occurrence and Exposure Assessment of Lipophilic Shellfish Toxins in the Zhejiang Province, China

Wang, Jikai, Wu, Pinggu, Zhao, Dong, Pan, Xiaodong, Zhang, Hexiang, Zhou, Biao, Han, Junde, Lu, Zijie, Zheng, Chenyang, Zhang, Ronghua, Chen, Jiang, Qi, Xiaojuan, Weng, Qin

2024

Overview

Although lipophilic shellfish toxins (LSTs) pose a significant threat to the health of seafood consumers, their systematic investigation and risk assessment remain scarce. The goals of this study were as follows: (1) analyze LST levels in commercially available shellfish in Zhejiang province, China, and determine factors influencing LST distribution; (2) assess the acute dietary risk of exposure to LSTs for local consumers during the red tide period; (3) explore potential health risks of LSTs in humans; and (4) study the acute risks of simultaneous dietary exposure to LSTs and paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs). A total of 546 shellfish samples were collected. LSTs were detected in 89 samples (16.3%) at concentrations below the regulatory limits. Mussels were the main shellfish species contaminated with LSTs. Spatial variations were observed in the yessotoxin group. Acute exposure to LSTs based on multiple scenarios was low. The minimum tolerable exposure durations for LSTs calculated using the mean and the 95th percentile of consumption data were 19.7 and 4.9 years, respectively. Our findings showed that Zhejiang province residents are at a low risk of combined exposure to LSTs and PSTs; however, the risk may be higher for children under 6 years of age in the extreme scenario.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: acute dietary exposure / Adult / Algae / algal blooms / Animals / Bivalvia - chemistry / Child / Child, Preschool / China / Climate change / Consumers / Contamination / diarrheic shellfish toxins / dietary exposure / Dietary Exposure - analysis / Environmental aspects / Exposure / exposure assessment / Female / Food contamination / Food contamination & poisoning / Food Contamination - analysis / Health aspects / Health risk assessment / Health risks / Humans / Lipophilic / lipophilic shellfish toxins / Lipophilicity / Marine toxins / Marine Toxins - analysis / Marine Toxins - toxicity / Middle Aged / Mollusks / Mussels / Public health / Red tide / Red tides / risk / Risk Assessment / Risk factors / Seafood / Seafood - analysis / Seafood poisoning / seafood safety / Seafoods / Shellfish / Shellfish - analysis / Shellfish Poisoning - etiology / Shellfish Poisoning - prevention & control / Spatial variations / species / Statistics / Toxicity / Toxins / yessotoxin / Yessotoxins / Young Adult