Replacing fish meal by food waste in feed pellets to culture lower trophic level fish containing acceptable levels of organochlorine pesticides: Health risk assessments

Abstract

The present study used food waste (collected from local hotels and restaurants) feed pellets in polyculture of low-trophic level fish [bighead (Aristichtys nobilis), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), and mud carp (Cirrhina molitorella)] aiming at producing safe and quality products for local consumption. The results indicated that grass carp (hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) <0.03; dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) 1.42–3.34 ng/g ww) and bighead carp (HCHs < 0.03; DDTs 1.55–2.56 ng/g ww) fed with food waste feed pellets were relatively free of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The experimental ponds (water and sediment) were relatively free of OCPs, lowering the possibility of biomagnification of OCPs in the food chains within the ponds. The raw concentrations of OCPs extracted from the fish were not in the bioavailable form, which would ultimately reach bloodstream and exert adverse effects on human body. Health risk assessments based on digestible concentrations are commonly regarded as a more accurate method. The results of health risk assessments based on raw and digestible concentrations showed that the fish fed with food waste feed pellets were safe for consumption from the OCP perspective. Keywords: Food waste, Fresh water fish, Bioaccumulation, OCPs, Health risks