Fatty acids as biomarkers of organohalogen contaminant exposure in mangrove insects from the Pearl River Estuary, South China

Qiang Xie; Lihua Yang; Fenglong Jia; Lvyan Tan; Shuang Zhao; Yuhai Lu; Yingjie Cao; Yuping Wu; Li Lin; Tiangang Luan

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139061

Fatty acids as biomarkers of organohalogen contaminant exposure in mangrove insects from the Pearl River Estuary, South China

J Hazard Mater. 2025 Jun 24:495:139061. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139061. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Qiang Xie¹, Lihua Yang², Fenglong Jia¹, Lvyan Tan¹, Shuang Zhao¹, Yuhai Lu³, Yingjie Cao⁴, Yuping Wu², Li Lin⁵, Tiangang Luan⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
² South China Sea Bio-Resource Exploitation and Utilization Collaborative Innovation Center, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China.
³ School of Biological Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
⁴ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China. Electronic address: linl@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, 529020, China. Electronic address: cesltg@mail.sysu.edu.cn.

PMID: 40578203
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139061

Abstract

Insects are critical indicators of environmental health, providing a valuable insight into pollutant dynamics within mangrove ecosystems. Despite the recognized use of fatty acids (FAs) as biomarkers in various organisms, the effects of organohalogen contaminants (OHCs) on FA profiles in insects have not been extensively investigated. This study analyzed 54 OHCs and 36 FAs across 16 insect species from the Pearl River Estuary to assess the viability of FAs as biomarkers for OHC exposure. Results indicated that insects from Shenzhen (160 ± 5.1 ng/g lw) exhibited significantly higher concentrations of OHCs than those from Zhuhai (100 ± 4.9 ng/g lw). Carnivorous insects (190 ± 6.1 ng/g lw) accumulated higher OHC levels but had lower proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids than herbivores (80 ± 4.2 ng/g lw), with OHCs exerting stronger effects on lipid metabolism among carnivores. Significant correlations were observed between OHC levels and desaturase activity/lipogenesis indices in both regions, indicating potential lipid metabolism disruptions. While correlations between OHCs and FAs in insects from Shenzhen and Zhuhai suggest the potential of FAs as biomarkers of OHC exposure, the limited overlap in OHC-FA correlations (5 out of 279) between the regions highlights the influence of spatial heterogeneity. These findings underscore the promise of FAs as biomarkers for OHC exposure but emphasize the need to account for species- and habitat-specific factors.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Fatty acids; Insects; Mangrove wetland; Organohalogen contaminants.