Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food and Chemical Toxicology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchemtox PAHs in seafood from the Mediterranean Sea: An exposure risk assessment Margherita Ferrante a , Guido Zanghì b , Antonio Cristaldi a,* , Chiara Copat a , Alfina Grasso a , Maria Fiore a , Santo Salvatore Signorelli c , Pietro Zuccarello a , Gea Oliveri Conti a a Department of Medical Sciences, Surgical and Advanced Technologies, “G.F. Ingrassia” - Hygiene and Public Health, Laboratory of Environmental and Food Hygiene (LIAA), University of Catania, Via S. Sofia, 87, 95123, Catania, Italy b Department of General Surgery and Medical-Surgical Specialties, University of Catania, Italy c Departments of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia, 87, 95123, Catania, Italy ARTICLE INFO Keywords: PAHs contamination Seafood Catania Gulf Target Hazard Quotient Cancer Risk Food quality ABSTRACT Seafood represent an important food source for human, and seafood quality is associated with marine en- vironment quality. PAHs are one of the main organic environmental contaminants and they can be introduced into the body through different way (ingestion, inhalation, dermal absorption). We present data on bioaccu- mulation of the sixteen PAHs, defined priority by the U.S.- EPA, in Sardina pilchardus, Solea solea and Donax trunculus, three species caught in the Catania Gulf and highly consumed by the local population. The risk to develop chronic systemic and carcinogenic effects due to the consumption of these target species was evaluated through the EDI, THQ and CR. EDI derived from D. trunculus ingestion falls within the range calculated by the EFSA. The THQ is less than 1, and the CR calculated for the Benzo(a)Pyrene is at the limit of the ARL (1✕10 -5 ). EDI derived from S. pilchardus and S. solea ingestion are below the range calculated by the EFSA. The THQ is less than 1, and the CR is below the acceptable risk level. The contamination level found in local seafood determines a low risk to develop chronic systemic effects, but the cancer risk could be of health concern especially for high- frequency molluscs consumers. 1. Introduction Industrialization processes and all anthropic activities have led to a negative impact on the environment with severe consequences on public health such as the occurrence of diseases due to exposure to toxic substances. Several pollutants have the aquatic environment as the final acceptor of their introduction into the environment (Ferrante et al., 2015; 2017). Seafood represent an important source of nutrients for humans because, especially fish, contain important essential proteins, vitamins, essential minerals and omega 3 fatty acids (Copat et al., 2012a; Conti et al., 2015; Nwaichi and Ntorgbo, 2016). However, e seafood quality is strictly associated with marine environment quality, contributing indirectly and significantly to the state of consumer's health because of the ingestion of contaminated seafood (Conte et al., 2015; Copat et al., 2013, 2014; Domingo, 2016). Many organic and inorganic contaminants can be bioaccumulated and biomagnified in marine organisms (Perugini et al., 2007b). Thus, the chemical con- tamination is still an open worldwide threat. In particular, in the Mediterranean Sea this issues appears to be of higher concern since it is a semi-enclosed sea surrounded in the north by countries with a high rate of industrialization and, along its meridional basin, by countries with high agricultural development. Then, the Mediterranean Sea is more vulnerable to environmental pollution compared to the oceans. (Conte et al., 2016; Conti et al., 2012; Domingo et al., 2008; Shen et al., 2017). Among the main organic contaminants present in the marine en- vironment, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent the largest share, due to marine traffic and possible accidents involving oil tankers with spills of large quantities of oil in the sea (Balcioglu et al., 2014; Tornero and Hanke, 2016). PAHs are solid compounds at room temperature with high boiling and melting points; they have poor water solubility, but are soluble in most organic solvents and are strongly li- pophilic. Although PAHs are subject to photosensitization and photo- degradation, they are considered persistent contaminants in the en- vironment due to their physicochemical characteristics (Winquist et al., 2013; Cristaldi et al., 2017). They can be introduced into the body through different ways (inhalation, dermal absorption, etc.), but the ingestion represent the most important pathway for the effects on living https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2018.03.024 Received 13 February 2018; Received in revised form 14 March 2018; Accepted 17 March 2018 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: antonio.cristaldi81@gmail.com (A. Cristaldi). Abbreviations: PAHs, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; EDI, Exposure Daily Intake; THQ, Target Hazard Quotient; CR, Cancer Risk; EFSA, European Food Safety Authority; ARL, acceptable risk level Food and Chemical Toxicology 115 (2018) 385–390 Available online 24 March 2018 0278-6915/ © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. T