Formaldehyde-Associated Risk Assessment of Fish Sold in Local Markets of Bangladesh

Abstract

The possible health risks from formaldehyde contamination to the local population through the fish ingestion were evaluated in Kawran Bazaar, Dhaka city, Bangladesh. The average body weight of children, adolescent and adult populations was found to be 23.27 ± 9.11 kg, 44.14 ± 4.93 kg and 51.67 ± 6.79 kg, respectively, and people consumed 68.22 ± 17.37 g person⁻¹ day⁻¹ fish. Formaldehyde content was determined by spectrophotometric method. Formaldehyde content was found to be 9.39 ± 3.39–32.57 ± 11.23 mg kg⁻¹ in wet fish, 5.34 ± 1.89–12.78 ± 6.67 mg kg⁻¹ in 1 h dipped fish, 3.81 ± 1.23–11.38 ± 4.66 mg kg⁻¹ in 1 h 5% brine dipped fish, 0.91 ± 0.34–2.61 ± 0.63 mg kg⁻¹ in fried fish, 0.71 ± 0.13–2.31 ± 1.33 mg kg⁻¹ in cooked fish, 0.58 ± 0.27–1.57 ± 0.84 mg kg⁻¹ in boiled fish, 0.63 ± 0.09–1.64 ± 1.17 mg kg⁻¹ in boiled fish water and 0.72 ± 0.19–2.45 ± 0.91 mg kg⁻¹ in fish gravy. The effect of dipped in water, 5% brine water dipped, fried, boiled and cooked treatments shows a reduction in the formaldehyde content in all the samples. Formaldehyde contents among all fish species and fish circumstances were still lower than acceptable daily intake (0.2 mg kg⁻¹). In general, no target hazard quotient and health risk index value of formaldehyde were greater than one, which means children, adolescent and adults are within the safe interval. However, it also indicates that collected fish samples from fish markets were still found safe for human consumption.