Occurrence and Health Risk Assessment of Organophosphate Esters in Seafood from Southeastern China: Impacts of Cooking Methods and Dietary Exposure

Abstract

Food ingestion is recognized as a major pathway for human exposure to organophosphate esters (OPEs). However, studies investigating dietary external exposure and human internal exposure within the same region remain limited. In this study, 17 OPEs were measured in seafood collected from China’s coastal waters and 16 OPEs were measured in serum samples from local residents. ΣOPE concentrations ranged from 1.88 to 9.23 ng/mL (mean: 4.96 ng/mL) in serum and 15.63–39.61 ng/g dw (mean: 24.54 ng/g dw) in untreated seafood. The emerging OPE 3IPPDPP was detected in untreated seafood at a concentration of 0.07 ng/g dw. Among the processing methods, cooking exhibited the most evident reduction in OPE concentrations, with a mean level of 14.57 ng/g dw. TCIPP and TDCIPP were identified as the dominant compounds in the seafood and serum, respectively. Under the current available toxicological data for OPEs and the assumptions of the exposure model, noncarcinogenic risks from dietary exposure to OPEs in processed seafood were within acceptable limits. These findings provide new insights into dietary exposure to OPEs and their associated health risks.