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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Toxicology, Pollution and the Environment
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1376882

Variations in methylmercury contamination levels and associated health risks in different fish species across three coastal bays in China

Provisionally accepted
Tao Liu Tao Liu 1Mingming An Mingming An 1Jingrui Chen Jingrui Chen 2Yuanyuan Liu Yuanyuan Liu 2Le Chao Le Chao 2Jichen Liu Jichen Liu 3Mingliang Zhang Mingliang Zhang 3*
  • 1 China National Offshore Oil Corporation (China), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 2 Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
  • 3 Shandong Marine Resource and Environment Research Institute, Yantai, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The growing atmospheric mercury (Hg) emissions in China have raised ongoing concerns regarding contamination in marine fish. To better understand the pollution patterns and associated risks, we examined methylmercury (MeHg) content in demersal and pelagic fish from four commonly found families in three geographically distinct bays along the Chinese coast. We identified significant spatial variations in MeHg levels within the same fish family across regions.Specifically, fish collected from the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea consistently exhibited significantly higher MeHg levels compared to those from the Laizhou Bay in the Northeast and/or Haizhou Bay in the East of China. In contrast, MeHg levels in fish collected from Haizhou Bay consistently remained the lowest. Within each region, we observed significantly higher MeHg concentrations in demersal species compared to pelagic species. This trend was particularly evident in fish species including bartail flathead (Platycephalus indicus), small-scale tongue sole (Cynoglossus microlepis) and greater lizardfish (Saurida tumbil) from the Beibu Gulf (0.50, 0.21 and 0.18 mg/kg dw, respectively), as well as bartail flathead and slender lizardfish (Saurida elongata) from Laizhou Bay (0.09 and 0.12 mg/kg dw, respectively). By comparison, MeHg content in silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) from all three regions consistently remained relatively lower than in other species. Using target hazardous quotient (THQ) calculations, we estimated potential health risks in local populations associated with the consumption of the studied fish species. Our results showed a lack of apparent health risks to local residents, as all THQ values obtained from the three regions fell within the safe limits (0.02-0.94). However, it remains important to conduct additional assessments and spatiotemporal monitoring that encompass a broader range of species and regions.

    Keywords: heavy metals, Aquatic products, Neurotoxicity, Potentially toxic elements, marine

    Received: 26 Jan 2024; Accepted: 19 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, An, Chen, Liu, Chao, Liu and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mingliang Zhang, Shandong Marine Resource and Environment Research Institute, Yantai, Shandong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.