Behavior of diclofenac from contaminated fish after cooking and in vitro digestion

Abstract

BackgroundSeafood consumers are widely exposed to diclofenac due to the high contamination levels often present in aquatic organisms. It is a potential risk to public health due its endocrine disruptor properties. Limited information is available about diclofenac behavior after food digestion to enable a more realistic scenario of consumer exposure. This study aimed to evaluate cooking effects on diclofenac levels, and determine diclofenac bioaccessibility by an in vitro digestion assay, using commercial fish species (seabass and white mulle) as models. The production of main metabolite 4′‐hidroxydiclofenac was also investigated. Fish hamburguers were spiked at two levels (150 and 1000 ng. g−1) and submitted to three culinary treatments (roasting, steaming and grilling).ResultsThe loss of water seems to be increased the diclofenac levels after cooking, excepting in seabass with higher levels. The high bioaccessibility of diclofenac (59.1 to 98.3%) observed in both fish species indicates that consumers' intestine is more susceptible to absorb, which can be worrisome depending on the level of contamination. Contamination levels did not affect the diclofenac bioaccessibility in both species. Seabass, the fattest species, exhibited a higher bioaccessibility of diclofenac compared to white mullet. Overall, cooking decreased diclofenac bioaccessibility by up to 40% in seabass and 25% in white mullet. The main metabolite 4′‐hydroxydiclofenac was not detected after cooking or digestion.ConclusionThus, consumption of cooked fish, preferentially grilled seabass and steamed or baked white mullet are more advisible. This study highlights the importance to consider bioaccessibility and cooking in hazard characterization studies.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.