Variations in seafood consumption and health risk associated with trace element exposure in the Zhoushan Fishing Ground, China: A questionnaire-based study

Abstract

This study determined the concentrations and health risks of trace elements (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg, and As) in 184 samples of 13 seafood species (8 fish, 2 shrimp, and 3 crab) collected from Zhoushan Fishing Ground (ZFG), during October and December 2020, and April and June 2021. To address the limitations of evaluating risk using regional average consumption, 399 questionnaires (359 valid) were collected to analyze how residents' consumption patterns influenced individual health risk. For all the samples, exceedances of national safety limits were observed for Pb (1.09 %), Cd (5.43 %), and As (21.20 %), and crabs exhibited the highest trace element concentrations. Species and body size further played a role in determining the concentrations. Seafood consumption frequency was the strongest predictor of consumption rates (IR), following the pattern IR_fish > IR_shrimp > IR_crab. In addition, age, gender, and residence duration influenced IR_fish and IR_shrimp. While the risk of most trace elements was acceptable, average Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) values of As exceeded 1, and both Cd and As exceeded the carcinogenic risk threshold of 10⁻⁴. The findings suggested that As and Cd posed certain health risks, especially in crabs (with the highest concentrations) and fish (with the highest IR). These results highlighted that differences in both element concentrations and individual consumption together affected the health risks associated with seafood. Future efforts should focus on enhancing the detection of trace elements, especially Cd and As, and promoting balanced seafood consumption to protect public health.