Intake and Potential Health Risk of Butyltin Compounds from Seafood Consumption in Korea

Concentrations of butyltin compounds (BTs) were determined in 47 species of seafood commonly consumed in Korea to investigate intakes of BTs from seafood consumption and the potential health risks to the Korean population. The concentrations of BTs (the sum of dibutyltin and tributyltin) in seafood ranged from less than the limit of detection to 96.3 ng/g wet weight, which are levels similar to those reported for other countries. The intake of BTs from seafood consumption by the general population was estimated to be 17.2 ng/kg body weight/day. Fish accounted for 50% of the total intakes of BT, and the next contributor was cephalopods (26%). The estimated intakes for males and females were 18.6 and 15.7 ng/ kg body weight/day, respectively. Among the age groups investigated, children (< 2 years and 3-6 years) had higher intakes of BTs compared with adults. The estimated intake of BTs for Korean population groups was 5-8% of the tolerable daily intake of 250 ng/ kg body weight/day set by the European Food Safety Authority. Our results suggest that the Korean population is not expected to exceed the threshold value for adverse health effects.