Abstract

Data on the presence and distribution of endocrine-disrupting pesticides (EDPs) in aquatic environments and biota are important for ecological and human health risk assessment. Compared with that in developed countries, little attention has been paid on environmental EDPs pollution in developing countries including China. Thus, the EDPs in carps (Carassius auratus) from Qiantang River in China were investigated to assess the potential human health hazards of these contaminants. Among the EDPs, hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) were found in C. auratus. The mean concentrations of DDTs (7.71 ± 6.46 µg/kg ww) were 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than those of HCHs (0.17 ± 0.25 µg/kg ww), which could be attributed to the extension utilization in history and high lipophilicity of DDTs. Although the highest concentrations of ΣHCHs and ΣDDTs in analyzed samples were lower than the corresponding maximum limits set by Chinese authorities, the estimated daily intake was less than 1% of the acceptable daily intake and the hazard ratio value was below 1 × 10⁻⁴. It could be concluded that consumption of C. auratus from Qiantang River posed low health risk of EDPs exposure.