Seafood as a dietary source of emerging organic contaminants. A case-study in Tarragona County, Spain.

Identifier:  TDX:2669

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2669

Authors:  Trabalón Escoda, Laura

Abstract:
This Doctoral Thesis aims to contribute to increase the knowledge on the presence of various families of emerging organic contaminants such as synthetic musk fragrances, brominated flame retardants and benzothiazoles in seafood samples widely consumed in Tarragona County, and carry out the risk characterisation for human health taking into account the dietary intake. The analytical technique used was gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry which offers certain advantages over other techniques and it has been successfully applied and for the first time for the determination of benzothiazoles in seafood samples. On the other hand, a study of the bioaccessibility of galaxolide (HHCB) through an in vitro digestion process has been carried out to determine if this contaminant is absorbed by the human organism and thus, to be able to perform a more rigorous risk assessment. Moreover, it has also been determined whether the cooking process affects the concentration of ingested HHCB. For this study the steaming and grilling processes have been chosen because they are the two most common cooking processes.