College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
Food Safety and Health Research Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, P. R. China.
J Food Sci. 2021 Mar;86(3):1132-1143. doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.15653. Epub 2021 Feb 18.
As a persistent organic pollutant, pentachlorophenol (PCP) has serious impacts on human health. However, its presence in animal source food products sold in the Guangdong Province (GD) of China, and the resultant dietary exposure have not been elucidated. To address this gap, 3,100 samples from seven food categories, including beef, pork, mutton, offals, broilers, hen eggs, and farmed freshwater fish, marketed throughout four geographical regions of GD, were collected from 2015 to 2018. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was employed to detect PCP levels in these food matrices. PCP was found in all food categories, but the average contamination levels were low, ranging from 0.40 µg/kg wet weight (ww) (hen eggs) to 5.85 µg/kg ww (offals). However, higher concentrations of PCP were detected (P < 0.05) in animal source food from the North region. Additionally, a temporal declining trend was observed in this four-year consecutive survey. The estimated human dietary exposure of PCP to population groups, including the general population and subgroups (male and female, children, and adults), was found to be far below the permissible daily intake (3 µg/kg body weight). Therefore, the health impacts of PCP should be correspondingly low for local residents, based on current toxicological knowledge. Regional exposure patterns varied due to different extents of contamination in the four areas, and pork, broilers, and freshwater fish were the major sources of dietary PCP exposure. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: As a persistent organic pollutant, pentachlorophenol (PCP) has serious impacts on human health. However, its presence in animal source food products sold in Guangdong Province of China, and the resultant dietary exposure have not been elucidated. In this study, we conducted an in-depth investigation on the occurrence of PCP in major foodstuff categories, including beef, pork, mutton, broilers, offals, hen eggs, and farmed freshwater fish, marketed in all 21 prefecture-level divisions of Guangdong Province, in order to provide integral insights for regulatory authorities.
作为一种持久性有机污染物，五氯苯酚（PCP）对人类健康有严重影响。然而，其在中国广东省销售的动物源食品中的存在及其导致的饮食暴露情况尚未阐明。为了解决这一差距，我们从 2015 年到 2018 年在广东省四个地理区域的七个食品类别中采集了 3100 个样本，包括牛肉、猪肉、羊肉、内脏、肉鸡、鸡蛋和养殖淡水鱼。采用气相色谱-质谱联用技术检测这些食品基质中的 PCP 水平。结果发现，所有食品类别都存在 PCP，但平均污染水平较低，范围从 0.40μg/kg 湿重（ww）（鸡蛋）到 5.85μg/kg ww（内脏）。然而，北部地区动物源食品中的 PCP 浓度较高（P<0.05）。此外，在这项四年连续调查中观察到了下降趋势。估计人群（包括一般人群和亚组（男性和女性、儿童和成年人））对 PCP 的饮食暴露量远低于允许的每日摄入量（3μg/kg 体重）。因此，根据当前的毒理学知识，当地居民的 PCP 健康影响应该相应较低。由于四个地区的污染程度不同，区域暴露模式也有所不同，猪肉、肉鸡和淡水鱼是饮食中 PCP 暴露的主要来源。
