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Health risk assessment and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Procambarus clarkii from six provinces of China

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Abstract

Contamination with heavy metals in wild red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) from 7 different geographical areas in six provinces of China (Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shandong) was evaluated. Concentrations of chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) in the abdominal muscle, gonad, and hepatopancreas were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic fluorescence spectrometer (AFS). Except for the Cd content in the hepatopancreas, the contents of selected heavy metals in three different tissues were significantly lower than the proposed limits provided by United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The maximum accumulations of Cd and Pb were in the hepatopancreas, while the maximum accumulation of As was in the gonad, and the maximum accumulations of Hg and Cr were in the abdominal muscle. The highest contents of Cr, Hg, and Pb were all detected in Dongting Lake, Hunan, which was consistent with the trend of the metal pollution index (MPI). Risk value of the target hazard quotient (THQ) was below 1.0, suggesting that the intake of selected heavy metals through crayfish consumption would not pose a significant health risk to consumers.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31770553) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2662019FW008).

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  1. Aijie Mo and Yangyang Huang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. FisheriesCollege, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Aijie Mo, Yangyang Huang, Zemao Gu, Chunsheng Liu, Jianghua Wang & Yongchao Yuan

  2. Shuangshui Shuanglu Institute, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zemao Gu & Yongchao Yuan

  3. Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, China

    Jianghua Wang

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  1. Aijie Mo
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Contributions

Jianghua Wang: conceptualization, methodology, project administration, writing—review and editing, and funding acquisition. Yongchao Yuan: conceptualization, writing—original draft, supervision, and conceptualization. Aijie Mo: performing—experiment, writing—original draft, and methodology. Yangyang Huang: performing—experiment and writing—original draft. Zemao Gu: methodology. Chunsheng Liu: format analysis.

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Correspondence to Jianghua Wang or Yongchao Yuan.

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Mo, ., Huang, Y., Gu, Z. et al. Health risk assessment and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Procambarus clarkii from six provinces of China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 2539–2546 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15855-6

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