Dietary Intake and Potential Health Risk of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) via Various Marine Organisms in Korea

Sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in seventy marine organisms (40 species) from the Korean coast. PAHs were present in all the organisms. The level of total PAHs in the organisms varied from 0.45 to 224 ng/g dry weight and the carcinogenic PAHs varied from 0.05 to 49.8 ng/g dry weight. The PAHs residues according to the marine organisms showed a highest content in bivalve species, and followed by crustaceans, cephalopods, fish and gastropods. Human dietary intake of total PAHs through marine organism in Korea was estimated to be 4.12 ng/kg body weight/day and 0.67 ng/kg body weight/day for carcinogenic PAHs. The relative contributions of individual species to the total dietary intake of PAHs were in the order of bivalves $(53.4{\%})$, fish $(21.9{\%})$, crustaceans $(15.3{\%})$, cephalopods $(8.8{\%})$ and gastropods $(0.6{\%})$. Daily dietary intake of $PAH_{TEQ}$ expressed as a TEQ value was estimated to be 0.13 pg TEQ/kg body weight/day, which did not exceed a tolerable daily intake (TDI) proposed by the KFDA and the WHO as well as the UK toxicity committee. Lifetime cancer risk due to ingestion of marine species by the Korean adult was evaluated using the equation estimating exposure of food ingestion. Although approximately $23{\%}$ of cumulative frequency of the sampled marine species exceeded the cancer risk guideline, lifetime cancer risk associated with marine organism consumption was negligible. Results indicate that dietary intake of PAHs through the consumption of the Korean marine organisms seems to be safe for human ingestion with negligible cancer risk.