Brominated flame retardants evaluation: a challenge in shrimp safe consumption

Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) are a class of emerging contaminants and a challenge for food safety. BFRs are mixtures of man- made chemicals applied in high quantities to reduce the flammability of polymers. They are usually used in plastics, textiles and electronic equipment. These compounds are lipophilic and can persist in the environment. The harmful health effects of these chemicals can be related to their persistence, bioaccumulation and biomagnification potential through the food chain1. Since they are lipophilic, they have the capacity to accumulate in animal fats including aquatic species 2. BFRs have already been found in the atmosphere, sewage sludge, sediments, soils, biota, blood, and breast milk. BFRs can act as endocrine disruptors and continuous human exposure to them is associated with several disorders. Shrimp is one of the most popular consumed seafood in the world and can be a healthy addition to our diet, they are rich in proteins and omega-3 fatty acids 3. However, they can also accumulate pollutants such as BFRs 2. The shrimp species Palaemon serratus is widely distributed in Portugal coastal areas and estuaries is the subject of small- scale fisheries. With this in mind, sampling of the P. serratus shrimp was performed up to two miles of the west Portuguese coast, namely in Vila do Conde, Matosinhos, Aveiro and Figueira da Foz. After the arrival at the laboratory, the shrimp head, the shell, and the edible portion were separated and storage separately at -20ºC. The edible portion was homogenised and 5 g were used to test the presence of BFRs. Briefly, the BFR residues were extracted by Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) methodology. A clean-up sorbents (mix of anhydrous magnesium sulphate, primary secondary amine, C18 and graphitized carbon black) were used after extraction. The extent of the contamination was reached through the quantification of twelve BFRs [1,2-Dibromo-4-(1,2-dibromoethyl) cyclohexane (TBECH), pentabromotoluene (PBT), pentabromoethylbenzene (PBEB), 2- ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5 tetrabromobenzoate (TBB), 1,2‐bis(2,4,6‐tribromophenoxy) ethane (BTBTE) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers 28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154 and 183] using gas chromatography coupled with electron-capture detector.