Probabilistic public health risks associated with pesticides and heavy metal exposure through consumption of common dried fish in coastal regions of Bangladesh.

The chemical contaminants in dried fish are of great food safety concern and an emerging public health issue in Bangladesh. The aim of this study was to assess the public health risk associated with exposure to pesticides (organochlorine and organophosphorus) and heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic) through the consumption of dried fish (Bombay duck, ribbon fish, silver jewfish, shrimp, Chinese promfret) in coastal districts (Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Bhola, Patuakhali, Khulna) of Bangladesh. Dried fish consumption data were collected from 500 adult respondents (100 from each district) using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Pesticide residues were determined using QuEChERS extraction coupled to gas chromatography and gas chromatography mass spectrometry, and heavy metals were estimated using an atomic absorption spectrophotometric method. The results revealed that the frequency and amount of dried fish consumption was highest for Bombay duck in Cox's Bazar (11.57 g/capita/day) and ribbon fish (12.10 g/capita/day) in Chittagong. The estimated daily intake (EDI, 7.40 × 10-5 to 1.10 × 10-4 mg/kg/day) and health risk index (HRI, 0.013 to 0.16) values expressed no health risk from pesticide residues in all the positive samples. For heavy metals, target hazard quotients (THQ) for non-carcinogenic health risk were below 1 (0.001-0.154), indicating no health risk for all samples. However, carcinogenic risk R value indicated a potential health risk for chromium (2.64 × 10-6 to 4.06 × 10-6), and carcinogenic RT value (2.82 × 10-6 to 5.71 × 10-6) indicated a potential health risk for all the metals. It is concluded that the risk of exposure to pesticides through the consumption of dried fish is low, while heavy metals pose moderate-to-high health risks to dried fish consumers in the study area. Thus, the study suggests an appropriate risk management policy that controls pesticides and heavy metals in dried fish to ensure safe food for local and global consumers, underpinned by a producers' capacity building and consumers' awareness raising strategy.

Comparative quality assessment of traditional vs. improved dried Bombay duck (Harpodon nehereus) under different storage conditions: Solar chimney dryer a low-cost improved approach for nutritional dried fish.

Dried fish and fishery products provide important and affordable dietary sources of animal protein. The present study compared the sensory, microbial, and biochemical quality of bombay duck (Harpadon nehereous) dried fish produced using improved versus traditional open-air drying method. The sensory, microbial, and biochemical quality was determined following quality index, total plate count (TPC), and Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) method, respectively. The sensory quality results indicate highly acceptable dried fish with the improved method compared to traditional method at both initial and storage condition. The microbial load (APC, TEC, TViC, and TSC) of improved dried fish was within internationally permissible microbiological standards for food whereas traditionally dried fish exceeded the permissible limit. The biochemical composition (protein, lipid, ash, and moisture) of improved dried fish had better nutritional value than the traditional dried fish. After 60 days storage time, samples packaged under HDPE conditions exhibited excellent organoleptic characteristics, lower microbial load, and lower biochemical decomposition than samples packaged in LDPE. The above results confirmed that the solar chimney dryer produced superior quality of dried fish compared to the traditional open-air drying method both initially and after storage, while packaging dried fish under HDPE conditions extended shelf life further.