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Exposure and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal in Crayfish from the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

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Abstract

Red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkia) is an exposed species to heavy metals due to their lifestyle of direct contact with sediments. Based on the complete crayfish industry, we focus on the presence of heavy metals in crayfish from different circulation links, which provides a new idea for the investigation of heavy metals in food. To analyze the exposure levels of heavy metals in crayfish during aquaculture and circulation, the five elements (Cd, Pb, Hg, Cr, Cu) in crayfish from 126 sampling sites were investigated. Cultured environmental samples were collected for Spearman correlation analysis. Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyze the uncertain health risks of heavy metals in crayfish. The results indicated that the average heavy metal concentrations in crayfish were all below the limit threshold values. The hepatopancreas was the main target organ for heavy metal accumulation (Cd: 0.3132 mg/kg; Pb: 0.0258 mg/kg; Hg: 0.0072 mg/kg; Cr: 0.1720 mg/kg; Cu: 10.6816 mg/kg). The positive correlation of heavy metal content between crayfish and sediments was not significant under the crayfish-rice coculture model. The 95th HI values for adults and children ranged from 0.022 to 0.042 and 0.071 to 0.137, well below 1, indicating that heavy metals do not pose a noncarcinogenic risk to humans. The potential carcinogenic risk of Cd and Cr in crayfish should be taken seriously, as the 95th CR values for children have reached 4.299 × 10−5 and 6.509 × 10−5, respectively.

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Data Availability

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32001772), the Hubei Key Laboratory for Processing and Transformation of Agricultural Products (Wuhan Polytechnic University) (Grant No. 2018HBSQGDKFA02), and the “Thirteenth Five-Year” National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFC1606003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory for Processing and Transformation of Agricultural Products, Key Laboratory for Deep Processing of Major Grain and Oil (The Chinese Ministry of Education), College of Food Science and Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, 430023, China

    Bingjie Zhou, **aoyu Zeng, Qiao Wang, Yan Liu, **n Liu, Yongning Wu, Zhiyong Gong & Min Fang

  2. NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Food Safety Research Unit (2019RU014) of Chinese, Academy of Medical Science, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Bei**g, 100021, China

    Yongning Wu

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  1. Bingjie Zhou
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  4. Yan Liu
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Contributions

Bingjie Zhou: collected the samples, analyzed the data, and wrote and edited the draft. **aoyu Zeng: collected the samples, and analyzed the data. Qiao wang: collected the samples. Yan Liu: designed research. **n Liu: designed research. Yongning Wu: contributed to the design of the study. Zhiyong Gong: contributed to the design of the study, and revised the manuscript. Min Fang: contributed to the design of the study, and revised the manuscript.

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Zhou, B., Zeng, X., Wang, Q. et al. Exposure and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal in Crayfish from the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River. Biol Trace Elem Res 202, 332–345 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03672-6

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