Fatty acid intake, biogenic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure through the consumption of nine species of smoked freshwater fish from Cambodia

This study presents the results from nine species of Cambodian smoked freshwater fish subjected to analysis of fatty acid, biogenic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with chromatographic techniques. The fatty acid profile of fish showed a high content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) that can lead to a daily intake between 0.27 and 1.79 g for the sum of EPA and DHA. For PAHs, the exposure and risk assessments of consumers were carried out by calculating the estimated daily intake (EDI) which was compared to toxicological reference values. The margin of exposure (MOE) to PAHs through smoked fish consumption was calculated as the ratio between benchmark PAH levels and EDI. The exposure to histamine was calculated and compared with an acute reference dose (ARfD). Regarding PAHs, all tested samples were non-compliant with European legislation. Indeed, their level was exceeded up to 451 times for BaP and 308 times for the PAH4. MOE calculated for BaP were far below 10,000, revealing that Cambodian consumers are exposed to high levels of PAHs, possibly harmful for their health. For biogenic amines, histamine was detected in 4 samples, with concentrations leading to intakes below the ARfD of 50 mg/meal. In conclusion, smoked freshwater fish is on one hand a good source of PUFA for the Cambodian consumer, but on the other hand, could represent a major health concern because of PAHs contamination. The implementation of an improved smoking process, allowing to keep the PUFA content but to decrease the PAHs contamination, is urgently needed to insure the safety of Cambodian consumers.